Awarding or denying joint custody depends on a lot more than merely the age of the child/ren involved -- for instance....the relationship currently in place between the child/ren and each parent (is there a bond with BOTH or has one been "absent" for a while which would make true 50/50 time share a hardship on the child), what is the distance between parents (considered to see if "bouncing" back and forth would be feasible and when the child DOES reach school age it would impact the decision if this would impact the child's schooling -- ie involving two school districts).....there are a lot of items the judge will consider.
The "5 year" thing comes from the "tender age" assumption that is becoming slowly outdated in the courts that typically considered that a child under a certain age (in some states 5 some 3 ...just depended) was of a tender age and was better of with the mother as primary parent -- HOWEVER, recent action by fathers in this country is helping to improve things by proving this assumption wrong -- more and more men are stepping up and demanding the right to raise their children. In fact, unless either parent is proven to be unfit the courts are beginning to PREFER that both parents play an equal part in the child's life -- recent studies have done so much to show what an impact this can have on them -- it's just that not too many men actually ask for it....far too many are willing to simply accept what they are granted and leave it at that.
What your son needs is an attorney well-versed in father's rights -- if he hasn't already found one I suggest finding one through a father's rights advocacy group in his area (net searches will bring you hundreds of these) ...they will be able to refer him to an attorney with just such experience AND typically such a referral will also provide him an attorny who will work at a lower than normal rate.
Point being -- if your son truly wants to have the opportunity to be that much a part of his child's life (and God bless him for that!) then he needs to take action to guarantee himself that right....as to what the I assume soon-to-be-ex wife is telling him--- why would she tell him any different...she doesn't want him to seek his full parental rights....taking legal advice/fact from the "other side" is harldy a good idea in any case and certainly not when children are involved as no other situation can turn two normally sane adults into bickering/backstabbing children.
Good luck and God Bless
[Edited by usmcfamily on 01-26-2001 at 02:27 PM]
