You may not realize this, but stepdads seeking custody of a stepchild are pretty common. There’s a misconception that during a separation, stepparents will inherently lose their stepchildren to the biological parents.
For stepparents around the world, this can seem wildly unfair, especially when you’ve taken in children as your own, helped raise them, and provided a nurturing environment for them. Stepfathers, in particular, must overcome additional hurdles, with women winning the majority of custody cases.
If you’re in the process of fighting for your stepchildren, there’s hope! Here’re some tips for stepdads seeking custody of a stepchild.
Establishing Family Involvement
A non-biological parent should be able to prove they have been catering to the child for a considerable amount of time, and are considered a member of the family.
For instance, let’s say you married a woman who has a child from a previous relationship. In the event you get divorced after co-parenting the child for the majority of their life, you can have custody over the biological mother and father, especially if the mother is unfit and the father is absent.
Determine Unfit Biological Parents
There are several ways to win custody as a stepfather, and one of them is to determine the biological parent is unfit. According to National Family Solutions, a firm specializing in father’s rights in California, it’s best to have legal representation with a solid reputation when it comes to unfit mother cases, which can become particularly tricky.
While courts encourage parties to come to an agreement on their own, when a stepfather intends to prove one or both biological parents are unfit, you’ll need a good legal team on your side. In these cases, your lawyer will attempt to prove abuse and/or neglect, abandonment, emotionally harmful households, or the inability to provide the child with their basic needs.
The Child’s Best Interest
Courts almost always allowed mothers to have full custody based on maternal needs solely. This also happens when children were under the age of three. Circumstances didn’t matter as much as they do today.
Now, courts are determined to understand what’s in the best interests of the child, and this isn’t always with the mother or either biological parents. Having proved your involvement in your step child’s life, the family court can make an educated and well-informed decision about where that child should be placed.
You can help prove your role in the child’s life by demonstrating your involvement in their life and parenting decisions. Providing character witnesses and discussing how you intend to provide for the child in the future will be necessary.
Determining Best Interests
It’s clear the courts want what’s best for the child, but how they go about determining what’s best can be a tricky process for many. Typically, it involves a detailed clinical and psychological assessment.
First and foremost, they’ll look for evidence of parenting ability. What’s in the best interest of the child doesn’t solely revolve around financial benefits. Courts also want to understand what’s best for the child’s physical and psychological well-being.
Ultimately, they want to choose a home for the family providing the child with basic needs and emotional support. They also look for consistency and safety.
Better neighborhoods and consistent routines help tip the scales in your favor. Furthermore, in most cases, they’ll make it easy for visitation rights to be possible for all parties involved.
Understanding Special Circumstances
In situations where the biological parents are deemed unfit, stepparents have a chance at claiming partial or full custody. But there are also special circumstances where the stepparent has a particularly strong case.
There are situations where the non-biological parent is unaware they aren’t the biological parent until further down the line. In this situation, they may have been present during the child’s birth.
They may have also signed the birth certificate and assumed responsibility as the father in the child’s life. This presents a strong case to the court.
Finally, being fully involved in your stepkids’ life is the first step stepdads seeking custody of a stepchild should take. Here are some ways new stepdads can step into their role.
