Fatherhood:

Fathers Rights Question:

My wife and I are currently separated, but the divorce has not been finalized, and she is denying my visitation rights to my children.

We have no child custody agreement and no child support agreement, however I have been paying her money for the past year. This past month I didn't have money to pay her so she has denied me from seeing my kids until I pay her.

Since there is no court order in place regarding child support or my visitation rights as a father, what are my options to see my children?

All children need two parents in their lives even if their parents are divorced. This concept of the importance of shared parenting is not lost on Washington State Sen. Jim Kastama, who is known as the Washington Legislature’s leading advocate for shared parenting and recently announced he is running for Washington's Secretary of State.

He also was invited on stage at a Blue October concert in Seattle (watch the YouTube clip) drumming up support within the crowd to allow divorced dads more access to their children. You can learn more about Jim and his efforts for shared parenting by visiting the website JimKastama.com.

A bill in Utah would amend the state's child custody laws by adding an anti-discrimination clause to the custody statute.

Utah legislators have apparently realized the discrimination faced by men and fathers every day in family law courtrooms must stop and will now to need to make a law over something that should seem so obvious: you can't discriminate against someone based on gender.

Some of the most popular articles on MensRights.com deal with the facts and figures of discrimination against men and fathers that are so often overlooked by society and mainstream media.

This list of fathers rights facts is provided by the Father's Rights Council of Georgia, an organization dedicated to helping fathers learn their rights, use their rights, and build productive unhindered relationships with their children.

The Hague Convention is a treaty between countries that agree to cooperate and abide by one set of laws - the Hague Convention - for the return of children removed from their home country in custody disputes.

The Hague is implemented in the United States, though not every country has joined the Hague Convention. There are several articles of the Hague Convention, but this article only pertains to the procedures and time of the removal.

Marriage rates have reached an all-time low meaning more children are being born out of wedlock. This issue of paternity is one of the more complex areas of family law.

Many men are curious about what an unwed father's legal responsibilities are to a child born outside of a marriage. Will he automatically have to pay child support? Is he the legal father of the child?

A previous men's rights article discussed a lawsuit filed on behalf of fathers rights after a welfare agency placed children in foster care rather than let them live with their fathers.

Both dads were active, involved fathers who shared child custody with the children's mother. They argued their children should have immediately been sent to live with them after they were removed from their mothers' care because of neglect.

Judith Sandalow, executive director of the Children's Law Center, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the dads whose rights were ignored.

Sandalow (pictured) discussed the lawsuit and the work being done at Children's Law Center with MensRights.com editor Matt Allen.

Two dads have filed lawsuits claiming their fathers rights were violated when a child welfare agency put their children in foster care rather than let the kids live with their fathers after the children were removed from their mothers’ care because of neglect.

After the Washington D.C. Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) removed the children and placed them in foster care, Sam Wilson and Andre Adgerson – who both had joint custody - had to fight for months in order to have their parental rights to their children recognized, according to the Washington Post.

Both dads were active, involved fathers who shared child custody with the children's mother. They argued their children should have immediately been put in their care once their mothers were found neglectful.

But, as frequently happens with dads rights, their parental rights were ignored.

This is the first in a series of articles highlighting men's rights organizations.

Fathers and Families improves the lives of children and strengthens society by protecting the child's right to the love and care of both parents after separation or divorce.

We seek better lives for children through family court reform that establishes equal rights and responsibilities for fathers and mothers.

Decades of research show beyond doubt that children do better when two biological parents raise them. But divorce, separation and out-of-wedlock childbearing tend to separate children from their father. 

So Fathers and Families seeks to change family law to keep both parents in children's lives to the greatest extent possible.

A stepfather is just as much a father as the biological dad when it comes to paternity suits, according to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

The court ruled that the child's stepfather as well as the child's biological father should both be parties when the legal presumption of fatherhood is decided on matters establishing paternity and child support.