divorced fathers will not get legal right to access.

[cherryglitter]

https://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/nov/03/divorced-fathers-access-ruling?newsfeed=true

i don't think this is right at all.

i don't understand why fathers are just disregarded as a parent. yes of course mothers have that 'instinct' but that doesn't mean all men don't and it certainly doesn't mean all mothers do.

thoughts?

 

[EllaAndLyla]

Well my mum and dad are divorced, have been for 2 years. Both me and my sister lived with him (she still does) and he was an amazing dad! We couldn't have lived with our mum, she lived in a 1 bed flat 7 stories up with her new boyfriend.

I think its ridiculous!

 

[cherryglitter]

i too lived with my dad from the age of 3 and my brother was a baby.
my mum decided she needed another life.

but anyway, it really irritates me as in my opinion mothers and fathers are equals. i do think there can be idiots on both sides.

 

[EllaAndLyla]

It's wrong to just disregard the father. He could be the most amazing dad and just because him and the mum got a divorce doesn't mean he is going to randomly turn into an evil horrible dad!!

 

[Hayley90]

i dont agree with it as a blanket rule, it should be on an individual basis. eg my dad for example!

Shame that good dads are going to lose out here too

 

[cherryglitter]

yeah i agree, it should be on individual case.

 

[buttonnose82]

it's wrong

The way I understood it was they have legal rights just not automatic legal rights too a 50/50 split with the mother ..... I might be wrong though

 

[cherryglitter]

im wondering why they dont get automatic rights though? or am i missing something?
obviously like i've said before mothers/fathers can both be atrocious as parents. it's not just fathers.

 

[babydevil1989]

i agree its should be individual cases but fathers should have just as many rights as mothers!! x

 

[AP]

They mention grandparents too (not so much in this article but thats the plan) I agree that grandparents should not have any legal rights. I'm sorry but they werent involved in the TTC, conception or birthing and arent the childs parent. End of.

But fathers? Obviously it should be sorted on an individual basis , but as a whole I think it's awful!

 

[Eternal]

thats horrible, my hubby is a fantatsic dad and would be if we were divorced and both remarried, he shouldnt have to fight for the right to see his kids or be involved. thats shocking.

 

[shortie1990]

It needs to be based on individual cases, MAJORITY blokes would be useless I'm afraid to say, as women have the natural instincts, but in some cases, the mother doesnt have a maternal bone in her body, and the children would benefit with their father..

 

[Blah11]

fathers for justice always end up looking like planks

I dunno. I dont mind the fact that they automatically don't get legal access but I do hope they don't deny access to the good dads, just filter out the wanky ones.

 

[Blah11]

My OH is a great dad too but hes not very practical. If we split up, of course I'd let him have access but it would be once a week thing id fight for, not joint.

 

[shortie1990]

^^ my OH is a great dad.. For the 'dad' things, as a parental responsibility point of view - he's friggin useless!! He actually wouldn't last a week..!

 

[Blah11]

my mum and dad had a pretty good access thing IMO. He had us a weds night overnight and would drop us off on his way to work, friday after work til saturday after dinner, 1 week during the summer and boxing day morning to the evening of 27th

 

[Lara310809]

I think it's wrong that fathers aren't given the exact same rights as mothers. Fair enough the mother is usually the primary caregiver, but in some cases it's the father, and why should a father be condemned to only seeing his children every so often because he happened to be the one that brought in the money? It's not fair that father's are pressured to be the provider, and then in the case of divorce they're not even given rights to see their children?

If the father is a decent man, i.e. loves his kids, treats them well, provides shelter etc, then why can't he be given the same rights as the mother?

My parents divorced when I was six. My mother was the one that caused the relationship to breakdown, in the eyes of the court, but she was still granted full custody of us. My father was only given his rights to access because my mother insisted upon it, and it was an agreement made out of court. She could have withdrawn that at any moment if she'd chosen to. She could have screwed him over and given him nothing, and I don't think that's right at all. There are so many women that split up from their husbands and choose to be spiteful. Do what you like to each other, but you shouldn't be able to use your children as weapons in an argument.

As it was he lived an hour away from us and so we stayed with my mum for the school week, and spent alternate weekends with my dad. Had he lived closer I'm sure we would have been able to see him more. I had a friend whose parents lived a couple of streets apart and she was able to go from one house to the other whenever she wanted.

And I see the way my OH loves our daughter. I said to him a few weeks ago, "can you imagine if we ever separated, how hard it would be to suddenly not see her every day?" - he admitted it would tear him apart

 

[tina_h75]

right, I might cause some upset here and for that I apologise in advance but I am actually pleased by this report. I have recently separated from my husband and even though our marriage has been rocky for some time, I tried to hold it together for the sake of our children. There has been times when I wanted to end it but I couldn't because I did not know how that would affect the kids but since he made the decision to leave a couple of weeks ago, then effectively the ball is in my court. It has been a huge concern regarding access and how much I can allow, because in all honesty, he is a terrible father and does not know enough about the kids to be able to care for them adequately as far as I am concerned but if there is legislation in place that gives priority to the mother ( or primary care giver as it should be ) then I am in favour to this.

I think for those of you who are in happy stable relationships, where you both share responsibility for the care of your children then a ruling stating that one parent has more rights then another would be shocking and totally unfair but if you are in the position that you have provided all the care, done all the hard work and then may have to hand your child over to someone who does not even know what they eat for breakfast then you may understand that this is a positive thing.

 

[TwilightAgain]

Thats ridiculous! My Dad did an amazing job raising me singlehandedly. Fathers should have rights too!

 

[morri]

I think thats wrong too. The right of father aren't the best in Germany either(especially if you are the step father) but I think they are better than in the UK.