Idaho is among the states least likely to offer custody to divorced fathers, according to a study

IDAHO FALLS – When a marriage begins to fail, it brings with it a lot of confusing and mixed emotions.

There are often months of loneliness, despair and uncertainty as couples try to decide whether the marriage is worth saving. A separation or divorce can often last painful months.

And when a divorce is finalized, some difficult decisions must be made – especially if a couple has children. The divorcing couple, once deeply in love, are now forced to share the only remaining connection they had with each other – their children.

Determining the rules for shared custody – the length of time a child will live with either parent – ​​is difficult for parents and children, and the arrangements are not always the same.

This is particularly true in Idaho, where custody is often not evenly divided between parents.

The numbers crunch

Divorce is becoming increasingly common in Idaho. Wall Street reports 24/7 that Idaho has the second highest divorce rate in the country.

“Nearly 22 out of 1,000 married people divorced in 2016,” the report said.

According to another report, Idaho has one of the lowest rates in the nation for a father's custody time for his child.

Custody

The survey, which included people from eastern Idaho, determined custody schedules for fathers in each state by conducting four months of interviews with legal experts in all 50 states.

Ben Coltrin, president and co-founder of Custody But he says the trend is changing.

“There are a lot more mothers working now. So if both parents are working (post-divorce), there should be no preference (in the court system) for one or the other,” Coltrin says.

Idaho state law requires courts to consider what is best for the child.

Idaho Falls attorney David Johnson says to figure out what's best for the child, you have to look at the history.

“What has happened in the past is generally what will happen in the future as far as basic child care is concerned,” Johnson says.

If there was a situation in which a father would be responsible for the majority of child care, people in the court system would take that into account when making custody decisions, Johnson says.

In states like Nevada and Colorado, the same report shows that divorced fathers are likely to receive 50 percent custody of their children.

Coltrin says there may be some political connections between fathers and custody time. His research found that Republican-majority states were the least concerned with achieving equal custody time for both parents.

The father's rights movement

In 2017, 25 states considered laws supporting shared custody of children after divorce.

Members of the Idaho Father's Rights movement want to pass similar legislation in the Gem State.

“Idaho’s children deserve the best. They deserve to have equal access to both parents,” the group’s Facebook page says.

The group is holding a rally on the steps of the Idaho capitol this Father's Day, June 17, in hopes of garnering enough support for the proposal.

Society's attitude towards fathers

Some argue that children are best served by being exclusively with their mother. Johnson calls this idea the “tender years” doctrine.

In 2006, the National Fatherhood Initiative selected 701 American men to participate in a study about fathers. The survey found that 99 percent of these fathers “agreed that being a father is a very important part of who they are.”

A third of these men felt that they were unimportant or not particularly necessary in their child's life. This attitude was shaped by their perception of society's attitude towards men and fathers.

RELATED | More men than you realize are victims of sexual abuse

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America – one in three children – live in families without a biological father.

Extensive social science research shows that children benefit from an involved father, reports the Washington Post. Children with active fathers tend to have higher self-esteem and better academic performance.

Johnson believes Bonneville County judges work hard to ensure there is no gender bias in evaluating each case, but the outcome of divorce cases is not always favorable to fathers.

“Each judge will handle a certain number of family law cases, but judges may not have specific training in family law. “So as a lawyer, you need to match your client with a judge who is most likely to rule in their favor,” Johnson says.

“If custody is viewed as a way to validate yourself or control someone you now perceive as an enemy, then that is the wrong mentality. (It should be) about the kids.”

Ultimately, Johnson says, children do better when both parents are involved in their lives and are committed to the children's well-being together.

“Our study shows that 40 percent of states aim to give each parent equal time,” Coltrin says. “We hope this study will influence the dialogue that is taking place as states consider changing their child custody laws.”

” class=”fa-stack jDialog”> =htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities('For more stories like this, visit https://www.eastidahonews. com/ for all the latest news, community events and more.')?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”>