If you are a father who lives in Tennessee, you should know that courts in this state no longer believe in the tender years’ doctrine so often used to provide mothers with custody. Instead, the courts now consider the best interests of the child when making various family law decisions related to children. All parenting plans or visitation arrangements are prepared according to the child’s best interests, which is supposed to give equal weight to the parental rights of both parents.
However, despite various efforts by family courts and other authorities and advocates, protecting fathers’ rights still remains a concern for many Tennessee residents. This is especially true for those fathers who are not married to their child’s mother. The federal and state governments run programs to promote responsible fatherhood but the results of these programs have not yet proven successful because issues still remain.
If you are a father from Tennessee who is not married to the mother of your child, you should know that you have equal parental rights to that child by means of establishing paternity. Once paternity is established and a father is regularly meeting all support obligations, even the court cannot deny that father his parental rights.
Sadly, problems continue even after obtaining this legal right because of the unwillingness of many mothers to let their children develop healthy relationships with their fathers, even when that father’s presence is not detrimental to the child’s best interests.
These are just a few of the many possible difficulties that may be faced by a man looking to exercise fathers’ rights. These difficulties may seem insurmountable but our firm’s deep knowledge of Tennessee family laws may ease these circumstances. We have strong reputation when it comes to defending fathers’ rights because we understand how important a father is to a child. If people are interested in knowing more about fathers’ rights in Tennessee, our firm may be the right choice.
