Mothers' Rights in Florida

Both mothers and fathers have certain legal rights in regards to their children. Mothers have rights to their children, whether or not they were ever married to the child's father. There will be times when issues will arise in regards to paternity, child custody, visitation, and support that will need to be resolved legally. When mothers encounter situations that need legal assistance, they can benefit from retaining the services of an experienced family lawyer.
One common reason why a mom may need to retain an attorney has to do with child abuse and/or spousal abuse. These types of situations are extremely sensitive, and must be handled with the highest level of care, especially when the mother and her children are in imminent danger from the abuser. Whether the father is her boyfriend, or her husband, there are specific legal actions that can be taken in order to protect a woman and her children from the father. An attorney can help her take out an order of protection against the abuser so he can be prohibited from contacting her or the children. If he violates the order of protection, he can face criminal consequences and potential jail time.

Why Child Custody Mediation Is Helpful

Why Child Custody Mediation is Needed

So you have found yourself in a position where you and the other parent of your child are no longer together. Whether or not you are fighting over arrangements, it is often a good thing to make sure that you are seeking out a way to have your agreements for custody and visitation clearly spelled out in legal documents. It is also important to make sure that each party is completely understanding of the terms that they are agreeing to. This will help to make sure that there are not a lot of problems later down the road.

Two Types of Child Custody Mediators

There are two types of mediators out there. There are the private mediators that you hire and then there are the court appointed mediators. For arguments sake, lets say that they two of you are not seeing eye-to-eye on the issue of custody and visitation. You both obviously love and care for the child. You want to make sure that each parent is getting what is not just fair to them, but what is fair to the child. Sometimes though, our love and a wide variety of emotions can block our vision of what would truly be in the best interest of everyone involved.

How Does DCFS Handle Reported Cases Of Child Abuse And Neglect?

If the Department Of Child And Family Services (DCFS) could have one wish granted, it would be that they would never again have to investigate a case of child abuse or neglect.
This is unfortunately an unrealistic desire; and making it even more unfortunate is the fact that this department of the government is so inundated with investigation requests to help stop child abuse that it often takes a longer time than not to get to the bottom of the issue. And with over 100,000 child abuse cases brought to the department on a yearly basis, it is no wonder that time is of the essence when it comes to providing families with the relief they seek.
Signs of child abuse are fairly overt when an adolescent is sporting bruises, black eyes, broken bones, or other types of scars related to being physically assaulted by an individual over the age of eighteen.
But, recognizing the signs of child neglect are often not as easy to spot, much of the time because any outsiders to the situation don't know exactly what types of adult behaviors fall into the "neglect" category.