About half (50.2 percent) of all 13.6 million custodial parents had either legal or informal child support agreements. Counsellor Sarah Hart, the author of a new book, A Mother Apart, is also aware of this backlash against working mothers. Approximately 50% of all custody cases today end with the father getting sole custody, but there are still some reasons fathers lose custody … – if the mother is emotionally or physically incapable. Child custody laws are best dealt with by a … The term "unfit mother" arises out of the now-outdated child custody doctrine that custody of children should be awarded to the mother unless the mother was "unfit." – Fathers can get child custody when it is evident that the mother has abandoned the child. If one parent believes the other to be an unfit mother or an unfit father such custody cases can escalate into a nasty battle. Although in the past decade there has been an increase in equal residential custody, mothers are still much more likely to be awarded primary residential care. – When there are signs that the mother has been emotionally or physically abusing the child. The aggregate amount of child support due in 2015 was $33.7 billion, a decrease of $14.0 billion from 2003. In the past, mothers automatically received custody simply because they were the primary caretakers, but not anymore. The child’s relationship with his/her mother: A court will be hesitant to interrupt a child custody arrangement that is working, particularly if the child’s mother is the principal caretaker of the child. A father and son go fishing. Seeking Full Custody. [1] X Research source Today, courts strive to settle on a custody arrangement that is in the best interests of the child, without bias in favor of the mother or father. When the genders were reversed, and fathers started out with the children, mothers took custody from fathers only 28% of the time. In most cases, child custody is granted to the mother, and the father has his contact rights and arrangements set out. Custodial mothers were more likely to have agreements (52.7 percent) than custodial fathers (39.6 percent). However, a number of organisations are trying to increase the prominence of joint custody in the UK to ensure that fathers are allowed greater contact with their children following a relationship breakdown. It is widely assumed that the mother will get the children in a custody battle. However, the percentage of fathers gaining child custody is growing. The parent seeking “full-custody”, to become the sole care giver, must prove to the courts that the other parent is unfit to care for the children. Up to 40% of divorcing dads in Britain lose all contact with their children within two years of families splitting up. 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