I get asked this question all the time by men trying to figure out whether or not the judge is going to give their wife preferred treatment in a child custody trial and my answer is sometimes but not for the reason you think. The judges in our area are not pro mom at least they aren’t anymore. Many people, like myself were mainly raised by their fathers and they turned out just fine. The reason that women sometimes have the upper hand in child custody cases isn’t because of their gender, rather it is because they have been the one primarily taking care of the children while the couple was married.

If you are a dad that works 80 hour weeks and you don’t know who your children’s doctor is or the name of their teachers at school, then yes your wife will likely win primary custody and you will get visitation.  If the shoe is on the other foot and dad, you are the one that is doing most of the child care in your house then it is very likely that you will be the one with primary custody. The bottom line for our judges is what is best for the kids and that usually means keeping the status quo.

If you are about to head for divorce court and you want your children rethink your lifestyle and spend more time with your kids. Not only does this increase the chances that you will get custody or at least more visitation time but it is also good for your children. This is what I call a win-win (which rarely happens in divorce cases)!

Check out our section on child custody. You can also calculate NC child support using our FREE child support calculator. It even lets you print the results to the proper North Carolina child support form.