Do Mothers always get full custody

[jbubar]

I am in South Carolina. In my state you must have a one year separation before filling for divorce. My soon to be ex-wife and I have had a verbal agreement to have shared custody of our two children and it has been in place for the last 13 months( Week on/off). Two weeks ago she sought legal counsel and has not returned the children to me or allowed me to see them even though we have equal parental rites and no set court order, as of yet. Should I seek legal counsel or just proceed " Pro Se "? I just want to keep things the way it has been for the last 13 months and see my children.

 

[Zigner]

No, mother's don't always get full custody.

If your wife has an attorney, it would behoove you to have one too.

 

[ecmst12]

Joint legal custody is pretty much the norm now, but one parent is usually designated primary physical custody. It's not always the mother. But true 50-50 split physical custody is rarely ordered unless the parents agree to it.

 

[totin6]

I am in South Carolina. In my state you must have a one year separation before filling for divorce. My soon to be ex-wife and I have had a verbal agreement to have shared custody of our two children and it has been in place for the last 13 months( Week on/off). Two weeks ago she sought legal counsel and has not returned the children to me or allowed me to see them even though we have equal parental rites and no set court order, as of yet. Should I seek legal counsel or just proceed " Pro Se "? I just want to keep things the way it has been for the last 13 months and see my children.

Seek legal counsel. Not all mother's get custody-example-for the first 6 years of my relationship with my fiance, he had full custody of his 4 children. His ex-wife had every other weekend visitation. She wasn't unfit either and she lived less than 10 minutes away. 1 year ago they modified the order and now they do shared parenting. Some parents, whether mother or father, just can't do it for some reason. It doesn't mean it will always be that way.

Since your plan has been in effect for 13 months, and if it was working well for the children, then try to re-establish it immediately. If it wasn't working well, then maybe you both need to relook at your reasons for wanting the week on/off plan.