Custody means who is responsible for the children in cases when their parents do not live together. This applies to couples who are separated, divorced, or never married. How is physical custody different from legal custody? Physical custody means the child would spend time living with that parent on a regular basis. Rights of unmarried fathers Legally, the unmarried father faces an uphill battle in trying to gain access to his child. This is because he does not have the automatic right to spend time with his child compared to a married father. When parents divorce or separate (whether married or unmarried), it is a common occurrence that the father is denied access to the children by the mother. During the custody hearings, the judge will consider several factors before making a decision about the custody rights of each parent. Usually, courts depend on a psychologist s expert testimony, which evaluates options for custody rights by examining a number of important factors. Some of the factors that a judge looks into when deciding custody rights include the age of the child, past behavior of the parents at home, preference of the child on who will take care of him or her, stability of the parents home, the amount of time a parent can devote for taking care of the child, and the parents ability to finance the child s needs. This law helps boost the chance of fathers to win the custody battle. However, it can be used the other way around if you are addicted to smoking. Children of divorced parents have to live with the trauma caused by the separation of their parents. Thus, their best interest must be served, regardless of who gains the custody. The same works for your strengths because you might even find a way on how to improve them. - Keep track of your progress on a regular basis. Monitoring how well or bad you are doing will help you maneuver things that find ways that would best work for you. For a person who is preparing for a draining emotional battle, it is best to keep track of how you are doing so you will know where are the areas that you should improve on and what are the things that you should continue doing. It would be futile to pursue your custody case if the children prefer to live with the other parent, unless you think it is dangerous for the children to live with your former spouse. Be involved with your children s lives. In doing so, you are more likely to get the judge s favor. If you leave all the parenting duties to the other parent, then you will lose the custody of your children.