Legal Question in Family Law in California

Fathers rights

My husband has an agreement that is now 8 years old, it states that he only gets his son 20 % of the time (every other weekend) we went and saw a lawyer, he wants to try for 50/50. The lawyer seemed pretty confident that there would be no problem with this. Kinda acted like we were crazy when we asked what could happen if we didn't get that. Kinda afraid that they were sugar coating things. Do fathers have more/better rights now? He has never missed a payment, has always done what he was suppossed to. Also she said that we would have to pay for her lawyer. How true is that? should we be worried that he will get even less time?


Asked on 5/21/07, 9:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
PATRICK MCCRARY PATRICK MCCRARY

Re: Fathers rights

Joint legal custody is the norm, but that does not mean a 50/50 timeshare. If he is bonded with his child he should certainly receive more than a 20% time share, unless they are separated by a great distance and travel is a problem. Typical time share for a non-primary parent who is bonded with the child is 35% to 50%. Every case is different. I think your attorney may be optimistic at 50% but if you reach for the stars you generally don't get a handful of dirt. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

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Answered on 5/22/07, 10:44 am


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