Educating Fathers on how to overcome judicial system bias, secure Equal Parenting Rights, and maintain a healthy, connected Father-Child relationship.

               Click to Contribute →

Objective Short Summary

An unexpected and harrowing custody dispute inspired me to research and develop effective methods to overcoming the judicial system bias. I was fortunate to discover viable strategies for Fathers trying to secure equal rights as a parent and was subsequently granted Joint Custody of my 3 year old son.

I’m committed to transforming this life-changing experience into the opportunity to educate and empower dedicated Fathers whom are in need of securing their equal rights as a parent while navigating a custody case. Fathers’ Rights Simplified is an educational resource that offers men direction in a simplified, step-by-step format as a guide book, accompanied by interactive custody preparation tools, podcast, and a support website. Unlike the resources that currently exist for men in this position, I feel it is imperative for this support to be easily accessible and presented in a concise, directional format. By providing this guidance to dedicated Fathers, we as a community will move closer towards Equal Parenting Rights and truly supporting the best interests of our children.

 

My Inspiration

The relationships to our parents and our emotionally-tied experiences in childhood greatly influence our well-being, emotional stability, and ability to create and build relationships with others in our community. Many people are fortunate to have parents dedicated to nurturing and guiding them through childhood and beyond. Others have endured some form of struggle, turmoil, or pain associated with parental relationships (or lack of).

Having active and dedicated parents is paramount to a child and their evolution towards becoming an adult. Living in an absent-father home or being raised by an abusive mother (or vise-versa) are experiences that can fester and lead to emotional and behavioral issues, delinquencies, drug abuse, incarceration, psychological disturbances, and/or premature sexual activity.

Although we as individuals can acknowledge that the level of our parental involvement has had an influence on our wellbeing, overall perceptions, and direction in life; Fathers struggle everyday to be in their children’s lives because they’re either unaware of their Rights or they’re being denied their Rights. This injustice has been fostered by many influences including: institutionalized biases, lack of affordable resources, and the overwhelmingly emotional and sensitive nature of custody arrangements and divorce.

Discrimination in our Family Court System

Our society and family court systems have been influenced by an outdated stereotype that associates Mothers with superior capabilities of nurturing children, skills that were unmatched by the busy breadwinner Father. This bias was birthed during the Industrial Revolution when Fathers were expected to financially support the family while the home was the Mother’s domain, hailing the Mother as the one true parent.

While half of all marriages end in divorce, cases for child custody are filling up the family courtroom calendar. With these lingering biases influencing our court system rulings, Fathers’ rights and responsibilities are being discriminated against when determining custody rulings. It is all too common for children to lose their Dad to baseless accusations and aggressive attacks against his capabilities as a parent.

 

Fortunately, family courts are evolving as traditional judges retire and the need to support Equal Parenting Rights is recognized. With your help, more dedicated Fathers can remain a part of their children’s lives by having access to current and affordable resources to navigate the Family Court System. Although my focus is on Fathers’ Rights, I am not gender biased. I truly believe that a child needs the care of both biological parents if they can offer a healthy and nurturing environment, physically and emotionally.

My Story

As a Father to a 3 year old boy, I am an advocate for Equal Parenting Rights. I’ve been inspired to educate and empower men to understand and protect their equal rights as a parent and remain actively involved in their child’s upbringing.

Last year, the Mother of our son and I mutually agreed to separate while remaining dedicated to equally co-parenting. Within a month of living in separate households, she initiated a series of manipulative and malicious attempts to alienate me from our son and threaten my rights and role as his Father.

These attempts included filing baseless criminal accusations, making false accusations of domestic violence, filing false police reports, parental alienation, withholding our son, and convincing our son that her new boyfriend was “Dad”.

As I endured blow after emotional blow, I feared that I would lose our child in a sea of false realities and dramatic theatrics. I wondered how the courts would ever see through it. I struggled to find concise, step-by-step guidance on how to protect my Rights as a Father and secure equal custody of our child. I had no prior knowledge or understanding of family law, nor how to prepare myself to stand in front of a Judge.

Through my experience of enduring this custody dispute, I became dedicated to researching family law, child custody processes, courthouse documents and etiquette, and exploring techniques to building a solid case for child custody. I documented the process and strategies that I took to retain a great lawyer, deflect false accusations, and collect/organize evidence for my case.

 

My preparation and due diligence equipped my attorney with solid, organized evidence and proper documentation, which allowed her to effectively represent me with efficiency, saving me time, money, and frustration. Despite the malicious attempts pinned against me and my case, these actions were exposed in the courtroom as suspicious and ill-intended. I was granted a favorable order by the Judge for a Joint Custody arrangement, securing equal rights and time with our son.

Fathers’ Rights Simplified resource

It’s my goal to transform this life-changing experience into the opportunity to educate and empower dedicated Fathers whom are in need of guidance while navigating a custody case. In return, children are given the opportunity to have a healthy and connected relationship with their Father. I have partnered with attorneys, editors, Mothers and Fathers Rights advocates who understand the desperate need for this resource.

With your support, I plan to develop a definitive, online Fathers Rights resource and guide book that offers direction in a simplified, step-by-step format, accompanied by essential custody case preparation tools, advice from family law attorneys and a Fathers support forum.
I envision it to be the guide that I wanted in my hands during my custody case. The accompanying custody case preparation tools and helpful information include:

• sample court documents
• example parenting agreements
• example physical custody schedules
• attorney questionnaires and comparison checklists
• evidence worksheets
• child support calculator
• witness worksheets

The accompanying support website will offer these documents and worksheets in a downloadable format, as well as, feature a podcast, FAQs section, and opportunities for men to connect to Fathers’ Rights support groups and fellow dedicated Fathers through an active support Forum. Enduring a custody dispute can be paralyzing. If men are given the opportunity to connect with supportive groups and be given a genuine sense that they aren’t alone in this struggle, it can make a world of difference.

My Capabilities

I lived on the West Coast for 15 years, serving as a Technical Project Manager and Consultant for various Software companies; but moved across the country in 2012 to maintain an active role in my son’s life. I now provide my consulting services to both Mothers and Fathers. I am a dedicated, Single Father and co-author of a parenting book published in 2011. I have worked with other authors to self-publish their books and now I want to apply this experience to my passion of helping other Fathers successfully navigate a custody dispute.

Providing this resource will educate Fathers about their equal rights as a parent, empower men to be active in their children’s lives, nurture Father-Child relationships, enrich the lives of our children, and support Equal Parenting Rights. I’m not only dedicated to providing this resource, but I am inspired to provide guidance through consulting and serving as a role model to dedicated Fathers.

Goal & Timeline

The goal of this campaign is to raise $17,900 to complete the development of the Fathers Rights Simplified book, support website, custody preparation tools, podcast, and forum within 16 weeks. Having successfully accomplished this type of project in the past, I’m familiar with the steps and costs for this all to materialize.

*Phase I*  (Completed)

• Book Outline
• Website Outline
• Downloadable Resources and Documents
• Research on Legal Process and Fathers’ Rights
• Interviews with Family Law Attorneys
• Interviews with Fathers in High Conflict Custody Battles

*Phase II* (Approximately 16 weeks)

• Develop/Design an accompanying resource website
• Composing, Designing, Layout, and Editing of Fathers’ Rights Simplified book
• Launch the Fathers’ Rights Simplified book
• Podcast recordings and interviews
• Website Content & Blog Posts
• Establish Commerce checkout process
• Implementing Interactive Tools on the support website
• Interactive Support Forum
• Marketing Campaign
• Legal Review

Estimated Expenses

• Technical: Website Development, Hosting $2700
• Initial Marketing and Search Engine Optimization, $2000
• Creative: Graphic Design & Illustration, $1200
• Technical Equipment: Podcast Recorder & Software, $2100
• Administrative: Editor Review, Legal Consulting & Fees $2900
• Runway & Misc: Timeline to complete writing and management of writing project $4000
• Post Launch Marketing Campaign & Business Development $3000

Other Ways To Support

I welcome you to share this campaign with any individual, friend, or organization that you think would be interested in supporting this project or benefit from this resource. The more funds raised through this campaign, the more expansive and accessible this resource will become.

Please Click the Indiegogo button below to view our compaign and contribute.