Court victory keeps boy close to his father
When a father gets divorced, it’s usually great if his children live nearby – and that was the situation for an Illinois dad and his 10-year-old son.
However, according to court documents, the mother suddenly decided to move with the boy out of state, to North Carolina.
Dad did not agree to this, because he is a loving father who sees his son regularly, and wants this to continue. They have a strong father-and-son bond, which is important.
A move like this requires approval from either the other parent or from the court, and it appeared the mother had neither.
Attorney Jeffery M. Leving, founder and president of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. in Chicago, will speak about the case on his weekly radio show, the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour, 9-10 a.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 3 on Power 92.3 FM. The Leving firm represented the father.
“We went to court right away, because this was an urgent matter,” Leving says.
“The mother was days away from departing, we were told, and Dad was concerned that his relationship with his son would be in peril. The judge, thank God, granted our request to put a stop to this. The mother is now prevented by court order from removing the boy from Illinois. This is a great victory for this dad, modified for broadcast – and it’s a big relief.”
Leving serves as chairman of the Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood, appointed by the governor.
The Council presents a symposium on fatherhood every year, and a few years ago it was in Belleville, Illinois, where the group was greeted by the mayor at the time, Mark Eckert. He was a litigant in an important case, In Re Marriage of Eckert, which was similar to the case Leving will discuss on his radio show.
The Eckert case went to the Illinois Supreme Court. According to court documents, his ex-wife wanted to move with their son to Arizona.
The trial court heard testimony that Mr. Eckert was one of the best divorced dads anyone had seen, and ruled in favor of Dad. The appeals court disagreed, but the Supreme Court ruled for Mr. Eckert. This decision came 34 years ago. I support the principle that good divorced dads shouldn’t lose their children because their ex wants to move away.
Also, this year’s fatherhood symposium scheduled for Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. at the Joliet Public Library, 150 N. Ottawa St. in Joliet, Illinois. It’s free and open to the public.
Jeffery M. Leving is founder and president of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd., and is a strong advocate. He is the author of Fathers’ Rights, Divorce Wars and How to be a Good Divorced Dad, the latter of which was endorsed by President Obama and by Cardinal Francis E. George, then the archbishop of Chicago. To learn more about Leving and his latest court victories, follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and view his videos on You Tube.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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