Equal Protection Guarantees in Child Custody Determinations: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits family courts from rationing parenting time or awarding primary custody based on gender stereotypes, maternal preferences, or traditional marital roles (Palmore v. Sidoti). Both fit parents possess equal, fundamental constitutional standing to raise their children. State practices creating unequal custody awards violate constitutional mandates unless justified by a compelling state interest executed through least restrictive means.
If you are afraid that you are going to face this problem in court or your attorney is telling you that you need to explain why you think you should have 50/50 parenting time with your child, you can refer them to some recent research conclusions published on November28, 2016 by William Fabricius (Link where you can get this study is below).
This research says thatmore time with your child strengthens the parent-child relationship,even when the parents are in conflict and cannot co-parent, and even when one parent did not agree to shared parenting.
The findings also support that the quantity of time is important to the quality of the parent-child relationship. This study debunks the myth that limiting the time for one parent is not harmful to the child and that the quality of time is more important than quantity.This study also debunks the attachment theory that children can only form one bond to one parent when they are an infant.
You can find this study done by William Fabricius here: "
Fabricius says that because there are benefits found with "shared parenting" that there should be a rebuttable presumption for shared parenting. It was found that "those with shared parenting time had the most well-adjusted children years later."
More overnight parenting time also leads to the development of better parenting.
A child spending equal amounts of time with each parent also serves as a protective measure against parental alienation. See Dr. Warshak's website for more research, books, and solutions on parental alienation.
A child's role in the development of attachment and security with both of their parents correlates with the amount of time each parent has with that child.
These findings should be brought up to allay any ideas that your judge might have that equal parenting time is harmful.
Next make sure that your arsenal of arguments is ready to slide right back to the constitutional argument that opposing counsel must provide a kind of harm that the state is allowed to protect the child from (a constitutionally compliant compelling state interest), and then must use the least restrictive solution when dividing the time between parents with the child. Least restrictive starts with an equal division of time. (You can find more information about your
Naturally, other factors can be introduced by the other side to dispute the equal time. For instance, the other parent might say that you live too far away to exercise equal time, or they might argue that you never exercised equal time in the marriage. See our onlinecourse, "Protecting Family Rights," our book, "NOT in The Child's Best Interest" for help on countering these objections and more.
Check back on this blog often for additional topics to help you navigate your divorce and child custody and find solutions attorneys might not be offering you.*
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