Child custody

“ In considering an application for the return of a child, the Court may require the applicant to obtain from a court or other competent organ in the state where the child's habitual residence is, a decision that the removal or retention of the child is in breach of the rights of custody. ”

“ We have recognized, of course, that there are limits to the constitutional right of parents to have custody of, or to participate in decisions affecting, their children. If a parent has relinquished the opportunity to develop a relationship with the child, and his or her only link to the child is biological, the Constitution does not require a State to allow parental participation. ”

“ A parent who has abandoned or deserted his child is, prima facie, unfit to have the custody of the child. And before the court can make an order giving him the custody, the onus lies on him to prove that he is fit. The same rule applies where the child has been allowed by the parent “to be brought up by another person at that person’s expense, or by the guardians of a poor-law union, for such a length of time and under such circumstances as to satisfy the court that the parent was unmindful of his parental duties.” ”

“ In principle, the mother shall have the custody of a breast-fed infant after divorce. If a dispute arises between the two parents over the custody of their child who has been weaned and they fail to reach an agreement, the People's Court shall make a judgment in accordance with the rights and interests of the child and the actual conditions of both parents. ”

“ The right of the state, as parens patriae, to deny to the child procedural rights available to his elders was elaborated by the assertion that a child, unlike an adult, has a right "not to liberty, but to custody." ”

“ The contest here for the child's custody is between her mother and her grandparents: a mother whom a New York court, in divorce proceedings while the child was present in New York, did not find to be a suitable custodian, and the grandparents, living in North Carolina, to whom the New York court decreed the custody of the child and with whom the child, now twelve years of age, has lived happily for the last six and one-half years. A second New York decree, rendered while the child was in North Carolina, awarded her custody to the mother. ”

“ The passage of even a relatively short period of time may work great changes, although difficult of ascertainment, in the needs of a developing child. Subtle, almost imperceptible, changes in the fitness and adaptability of custodians to provide for such needs may develop with corresponding rapidity. A court that is called upon to determine to whom and under what circumstances custody of an infant will be granted cannot, if it is to perform its function responsibly, be bound by a prior decree of another court, irrespective of whether 'changes in circumstances' are objectively provable. ”

“ The parents or other guardians of minors shall, upon receiving notices from the entrusted person, residents' committee, villagers' committee, schools, and kindergartens, about the psychological and behavioral abnormalities of minors, take timely intervention measures.
Article 24 When a minor's parents decide upon divorce, they shall properly handle matters of the upbringing, education, visitation, property of a minor child, and hear the opinions of the minor who has the ability to express his will. The parents shall not be allowed to struggle for custody by seizing or hiding the minor child. ”

“ In all others the father has the sole custody and control of the persons, education, earnings and estates of minor children. Where this right is abused the mother can obtain custody only by applying for separation or divorce or proving in court the unfitness of the father. In a number of States the father may by will appoint a guardian even of a child unborn, to the exclusion of the mother. In others the widow is legally entitled to the guardianship but forfeits it by marrying again. Others do not permit a widow to appoint by will a guardian for her children. ”

“ And the mere fact that the maternal relatives who have had the care of the child from its birth have become attached to it and desire to continue to care for it and are able to secure it better advantages than its parent, does not render the parent unsuitable to have its care and custody within the meaning of the statute. ”

“ The standard of proof of a claim of abuse or neglect by a parent shall be beyond a reasonable doubt as established by conviction for a criminal offense, and there shall be an absolute presumption of innocence absent such degree of proof.
(1) Death of both parents. In the event neither parent of a child is living, custody of a child may vest with the legal custodian of the child, pursuant to [cite state-specific Statute on non-parental custody requirements] , or the state, pursuant to [cite state-specific Statute on juvenile dependency] . ”

“ The society voluntarily took the child there with the intention that it should remain. Through imposition the child was placed in custody of those unfit to receive or maintain control over it, and, as above stated, came into the custody and possession of the respondent.
The child was within the jurisdiction of the court under such circumstances that rival claimants of the right of custody might invoke the jurisdiction of a competent court of the territory to determine, not the right of personal freedom, but to which custodian a child of tender years should be committed. ”

“ Moreover, the father, about to die, may bind out all his children wherever and to whomsoever he may see fit, and thus, in fact, will away the guardianship of all his children from the mother. The Revised Statutes of New York provide that "every father, whether of full age or a minor, of a child to be born, or of any living child under the age of twenty-one years, and unmarried, may by his deed or last will, duly executed, dispose of the custody and tuition of such child during its minority, or for any less time, to any person or persons, in possession or remainder." ”

“ But the child's welfare in a custody case has such a claim upon the State that its responsibility is obviously not to be foreclosed by a prior adjudication reflecting another State's discharge of its responsibility at another time. Reliance on opinions regarding out-of-State adjudications of property rights, personal claims or the marital status is bound to confuse analysis when a claim to the custody of children before the courts of one State is based on an award previously made by another State. Whatever light may be had from such opinions, they cannot give conclusive answers. ”

“ It will be seen from this that the father alone has the absolute legal right to deal with his child or children, to the extent of separating them, at his own sole pleasure, from their mother, and of giving them into the care and custody of any person whom he may think fit. ”

“ Willful abandonment of a minor child, leaving it in a dependent condition, is a misdemeanor. [5] The mere loss of custody by the father does not relieve him of his obligation to provide for maintenance and education, even where the custody passes to the mother pursuant to a decree of divorce. [6] If the father fails to make such provision, any person (including a divorced wife) who furnishes necessaries of life to his minor child may recover from him therefor, unless precluded by the terms of the decree in the divorce suit or otherwise. ”

“ A legitimate child—with the exception noted above—is the offspring of parents who were lawfully married before the time of its birth. A posthumous child, if born in due time after the husband’s death, is legitimate.
The father has primâ facie a right to the custody of his children while under the age of sixteen years; after that age, if they are able to maintain themselves, they may be emancipated from his control. ”

“ This class action is brought on behalf of abused mothers and their children who are separated from each other because the mother has suffered domestic abuse and the children are for this reason deemed neglected by the mother. Three sometimes conflicting principles control: First, as a parent, a mother has rights to uninterrupted custody of her children and a child has rights to remain with parents; within wide limits, adults and children in a household are immune from state prying and intrusion. ”

“ In one state a distinction has been drawn between personal rights of the parents and the interest of the state in the welfare of the child: unless there is an allegation that the best interest of the child requires a change in custody, the parties will be bound. ”

“ He may be detained, but only until he is 21 years of age. The court is admonished by the statute to give preference to retaining the child in the custody of his parents 'unless his welfare and the safety and protection of the public can not be adequately safeguarded without * * * removal.' The child is protected against consequences of adult conviction such as the loss of civil rights, the use of adjudication against him in subsequent proceedings, and disqualification for public employment. D.C.Code §§ 11-907, 11 915, 11-927, 11-929 (1961) . ”

“ But, as there seems to be much ground in the peculiar circumstances here, for arguing that the mother should have the custody of the child, or, at least, that it should not be left to that of persons of a different religion from both parents, an application might be made to the Queen's Bench to try the question. ”

“ Thus, the victim's mother not only was emotionally involved with the case, but she was also scheduled to be a material witness at the trial. Id. Moreover, she stood to gain custody of the child if the defendant was convicted. ”

“ A child awaiting trial should on no account be sent to prison. If safe custody of the person is essential, some grown person in whom the court has confidence must be made responsible for the care of the child. ”

“ The provisions of the acts as to procedure and custody extend not only to the offence of cruelty but also to all offences involving bodily injury to a child under sixteen, such as abandonment, assault, kidnapping and illegally engaging a child in a dangerous public performance. ”

“ More broadly, a search of current state custody and visitation laws reveals fully 698 separate references to the "best interest of the child" standard, a number that, at a minimum, should give the Court some pause before it upholds a decision implying that those words, on their face, may be too boundless to pass muster under the Federal Constitution. ↑ . It necessarily follows that under the far more stringent demands suggested by the majority in United States v. ”

“ Protection of the right of each parent to participate in the upbringing of her or his own children is a further discrete interest that the State recognizes by the statute. The common law historically has given recognition to the right of parents, not merely to be notified of their children's actions, but to speak and act on their behalf. Absent a showing of neglect or abuse, a father "possessed the paramount right to the custody and control of his minor children, and to superintend their education and nurture." ”

“ If the parties have children, such of them as are so young as to need a mother’s care are temporarily awarded to the woman’s custody even though she be the party declared to be guilty in the divorce suit. ”

“ But 'the inherent rights of parents to enjoy the society and association of their offspring with reasonable opportunity to impress upon them a father's or a mother's love and affection in their upbringing, must be regarded as being of an equally important, if not controlling, consideration in adjusting the right of custody as between parents in ordinary cases.' Frazier v. Frazier, 109 Fla. at page 169, 147 So. at page 466. Facts which have arisen since the original decree are one basis for modification of the custody decree. ”

“ A father's right to the custody of his own children being founded in law on the right of guardianship, this being taken away, they may of course be severed from him, and put by the authority of the court, into more orthodox hands. ”