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Unmarried dad being pushed out of son’s life wins residential custody and more
By Laura Reichel
Losing his children is one of the most terrifying things that can happen to a father. A terrible scenario that risked becoming reality for the father of a four year-old boy. Dad had broken up with his child’s mother, and for a while, things were fine. Dad and his son were able to spend time together, and dad was an involved, loving, and caring father.
However, over time, dad’s ex would keep his son away from him for longer and longer periods, sometimes weeks at a time. Things were getting worse. Since their shared parenting arrangement was informal – not court-ordered – dad had no legal rights to safeguard his relationship with his boy.
Chicago matrimonial attorney and Litigation Director Arthur Kallow of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. will talk about this difficult case on the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour, 9-10 a.m. CDT Saturday, October 19th on Power 92.3 FM. This show segment will be available for download on the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour Spotify page on dadsrights.com
Attorney Arthur Kallow has often told fathers, especially unmarried fathers, who have informal parenting arrangements, that they should get a court order, even if things are going well – because one day things might turn in a way that’s harmful to the father and his children. The very thing that was happening to this dad.
This father, getting nowhere with his ex, wisely reached out to the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. and asked for help. The Leving legal team assured dad that they would fight to protect him and his son, and they did.
There was great urgency because as the Leving legal team was in court, protecting dad’s interests, the mother indicated she was planning to move, with the boy, to Georgia. If that were to happen, the chance of dad having a relationship with his son would fall to next to nothing. In fact, dad feared he might not even see his little boy ever again.
The Leving legal team won. The judge signed an order naming dad as the residential parent, granting him 50-50 parenting time, and ordering that dad would pay no child support. The court also ordered that the mother was banned from taking the child out of state, and if she did so, she could be jailed for contempt of court.
This was a sweeping victory, modified for broadcast, that gave dad the opportunity to maintain his relationship with his son as he grows up. Dad refused to give up and now, he no longer fears losing his son.
Attorney and Litigation Director Arthur S. Kallow
Attorney Arthur S. Kallow was honored for his valuable contribution to the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County as a court facilitator. Kallow was also selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer. Super Lawyers are considered the best in their profession, and they represent the top practicing attorneys in Illinois and the country.
To learn more about law and fatherhood, follow the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. on Facebook and X.
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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.
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