Fathers’ Rights Attorneys

In representing both fathers and mothers in divorces and child custody cases we have noticed that most parents will put aside their differences when it comes to the children and do what is best for the children — but that is not always the case. Sometimes the children are used as a weapon to gain an advantage in court. The advantage that a parent may be attempting to gain can be economic — like getting more child support than is fair, or getting an unfair division of the marital property. The motive can be revenge, turning the children against the other parent, gaining custody and just getting more time with the children. The motive is sometimes just plain hate.

At Mark T. Davis Attorney At Law, we represent fathers who want to protect their rights to have a parental relationship with their children. Contact our law office online or call us at 915-493-8441 to schedule a consultation.

Children growing up in fatherless homes are:

  • Five times more likely to commit suicide
  • Thirty-two times more likely to run away
  • Twenty times more likely to have behavioral disorders
  • Fourteen times more likely to commit rape
  • Nine times more likely to drop out of high school
  • Ten times more likely to abuse chemical substances
  • Nine times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution
  • Twenty times more likely to end up in prison

The El Paso County Judicial System And Fathers’ Rights

Unfortunately, the judicial system inadvertently gives an advantage to women over men who are willing to lie. There are several reasons why this occurs. Here in El Paso County, if a woman claims that she has been a victim of violence there is virtually no screening process to see if her claim is true.

The El Paso County attorney will accept virtually every case presented by a woman for prosecution and file a lawsuit against her husband or boyfriend for a protective order. The woman will incur no attorney’s fees while the man will have to pay his attorney to defend himself against false charges. Even if he wins he is not entitled to recover his attorney’s fees. Even if the only evidence of violence is the word of the woman the judge often is concerned that if he or she does not issue a protective order and violence occurs in the future his or her job could be in jeopardy.

There is a new trend now emerging in the area of protective orders. We are beginning to see moms who are in a fight for custody take the children down to the El Paso County Attorney’s Office to ask for a protective order against dad. The judge will often grant a protective order for the child without even contacting the father to get his side of the story. Effectively, custody is switched from dad to mom without a hearing because the father would be breaking the law to come close to his son or daughter. This is very frustrating; however, the county attorney general will accept any application for protective order presented by a mother without any significant screening process. In fact, as embarrassing as it may seem, the county attorney will not even contact a father for his side of the story.

Judges will often err in favor of issuing a protective order against a man, even though the consequences can be devastating. At the same time the woman can make a false criminal complaint claiming she has suffered a violent attack. The El Paso Police Department has a policy that they must arrest someone — even if there is no visible evidence of injury. Guess who is usually arrested? The father.

If the case is accepted by the district attorney’s office — which virtually all of them are accepted for prosecution, again the woman has a free attorney prosecuting a false case against the man, and he will have to hire an attorney to defend himself in that case. We are unaware of the El Paso district attorney ever filing charges against a woman for making a false claim against a man for assault/family violence, so there is simply no penalty for making false charges and giving false testimony in court.

We represent fathers in family law matters of all kinds, including parentage actions, as well as in criminal court. We will defend your rights, including those to child visitation and custody, and protect your freedom.

False Accusations Against Fathers

Another tool to gain an unfair advantage is to falsely accuse a man of sexual assault of the children. Naturally, no judge wants to take a risk that a sex offender is around children and will often issue an order on patently false testimony. Suddenly a good father is found defending himself against horrific charges of misconduct and can’t see his children. Again, we have seen this done over and over and never have we seen a judge punish a woman who made a false claim.

Next, a woman can check into a battered woman’s shelter, claim poverty and blame her poverty on her husband and will be represented in the divorce or child custody battle with a free lawyer. Since she doesn’t have to pay her lawyer she can be very demanding, not settle anything and demand a trial. The man, again, must hire a lawyer and go through an entire trial — at great expense. The cost of the system itself is a barrier to justice that takes away fathers’ rights regularly.

An Experienced Attorney On Your Side

There are no shortcuts to fighting this type of abuse of the system, but the court will afford an opportunity for the parties to be heard. Preparation and skill in cross-examination are the keys to our success in fighting these types of cases. We aggressively defend parents who are faced with false accusations and fight to win and at the same demand their rights to their children and property. Usually, there is no way to settle these cases but they can be won. We spend our time, every day, preparing to win the best outcome for our clients.

Contact Us Today

For more information about how we can help you protect your rights and defend you against false accusations, contact us online or call our El Paso office at 915-493-8441 to schedule a consultation.