Single Parenting

Need a babysitter? Sittercity has babysitters in your area. Sign-up to find the perfect sitter!

Single Mother’s Legal Rights & Law

Many people view single mothers as second class citizens. This is unfortunate. The single mother's legal rights are just a valid and legally binding as any other person's legal rights.

Too many times society and the legal system try to circumvent what a single mom is legally entitled to. Although there are many laws on parents' rights and legal rights for unwed fathers, this article is strictly dealing with the rights of the single mother.

Biological mother rights are usually upheld in court. Many times a woman is awarded custody based on the fact that children should be with their mothers.

No law in the US states this; however it is customary that as long as the biological mother is a fit parent, custody usually is awarded to her. This is changing somewhat, but for the most part it still holds true.

A biological mother has the right to have custody of her child. It does not matter if she has been married or not.

Even in adoption cases, if the biological mother changes her mind after the adoption has gone through, there is a good chance that the child will be awarded to the biological mother, unless she is deemed to be unfit.

Unfit would mean proven substance abuse, homelessness, reckless behavior (look at Brittany Spears situation), or mental instability. If the biological mother changes her mind, you can be sure that there will be a lengthy court battle for that child.

The biological mother has many rights. These rights extend to unwed mothers rights. A biological mother does not have to be married in order to exercise her rights as a parent under the law.

Legal rights as a parent and rights of the sole custodial parent sometimes collide. A custodial parent is the parent that has physical custody of the children. There is also something called legal custody.

In this instance this is the parent who makes all of the legal decisions for the child. This can include education, religious up bringing, providing medical insurance, and overseeing that their proper care is provided for.

Many states do not separate physical custody from legal custody. Others do. Unwed mothers legal rights also fall under parental legal rights. Being married or not has no bearing on your parental rights.

So what do you do if you feel that your single mothers legal rights are being violated? How you might ask? There are employers who will not hire single mothers although marital status is not supposed to be a question asked during employment.

This is discrimination and it is illegal. Some apartments will not rent to single mothers. Again, this is illegal. You may not be discriminated against because of your marital status.

Employment, housing, getting children admitted to private schools are areas where single mothers are discriminated against and in all of these instances it is illegal. If you feel that you are being illegally discriminated against as a single mother, seek help.

Many attorneys specialize in discrimination. If you feel discrimination in the work place due to your marital status and you are not sure if you should hire an attorney, you can talk to you local labor department or contact the ACLU.

You would be surprised at how many women still are discriminated against in the work place, especially in non-traditional careers such as law, IT, and upper management. This is an overview of single mothers legal rights.

References:
http://www.singlemom.com/RESOURCES/
Children_Resources/child_custody.htm

Featured Single Parenting Articles