In your opinion, when you go to family court do judges view mom's and dad's with inequality?

Question

My brother has been the stay at home parent of his two children since they were born. He divorced two years ago and has since been the stay at home parent, as he owns his own business. He just got remarried and now the mom wants full custody. He is probably one of the best dad's ever. She has been abusive towards one of the children. She is not only seeking custody, but child support as well because his financial situation has dramatically improved with his new marriage(his new wife has tons and tons of money). It seems that the mom is doing this for financial benefit and not for the children. Do you think that the judge will grant her custody because she is the mother? I was curious if there is a favoritism towards mothers. This is in California.
Thanks!

Answer 1

It varies from State to State & Judge to Judge.
They are supposed to do what is in the "best interests of the child". If he has been the primary caregiver during their marriage and he has done a good job, there should be no reason to rock the boat. MOST important is to have a good lawyer who primarily practices in the court that the custody hearing will be held in.
Also, I'm not sure about California, but in my state his new spouses income would not be a factor in determining support calculations.

Answer 2

In CA, there has to be a change of circumstances to ask for a modification of a custody order. They have to go to mediation and get a recommendation from there. Generally the court leaves the kids in the situation they are used to, rather than upset the apple cart. If things are fine with dad, they'll stay there. I would like to believe moms are not favored over dads, but I think moms having the kids more often stems from them taking the kids initially more often, and the court just keeps the status quo. I wouldn't worry about this one.

Answer 3

The judge will likely see through this and conclude that she is a gold digger.

Answer 4

NO!