paternal rights
Father's legal claims
Paternal rights are the legal rights a father has regarding his children—custody, visitation, and decision-making authority over education, healthcare, and upbringing.
The term appears most often in contexts where these rights are contested or must be established: He's fighting for his paternal rights after the divorce.
Unmarried fathers may need to take legal steps to secure paternal rights that married fathers hold automatically.
- DNA testingAnalyzing hereditary material
- visitationOfficial or formal visit
- moral obligationsDemands of conscience
- parental alienationManipulating child against other parent
- custodyProtective care or control
custody battle · child support · deadbeat dad · parental responsibility · parenting styles · co-parenting · birth certificate · guardianship · parental consent · family court · gender roles · shared parenting · sperm donation · family dynamics · genetic inheritance · conception · masculinity · parental leave
- family lawchild custody, child support, alimony, family court, divorce petitions
- patriarchymale dominance, male supremacy, pater familias, patria potestas, male privilege
- custody lawchild custody, custody order, custody laws, joint custody, sole custody
- parentageparentage, maternity, motherhood, natural parent, parenthood
- ICWAtribal courts, tribal membership, tribal nations, native children, indigenous children
paternal, paternalism, paternalist, paternalistic, paternally, paternity, patriarch, patriarchal, patriarchy