The perception used to be that fathers were disfavored and the reality is our statutes are written in a gender-neutral fashion. The problem is more often than not a father will not be what we call the primary caregiver or the primary caretaker of children particularly with infants where it’s common for a mother to take maternity leave. More and more, fathers actually are able to take paternity leave to do as mothers do depending on the company.

However, its factually based, in other words, more often than not fathers are the ones who are not home who are working and more often than not mothers are the ones who are staying home as the primary caregiver and that is the determination. So in a situation for a father who is a primary caregiver he actually has the better chance just as the mother would because factually, he is the primary caregiver.

In cases where both parties work it’s more common today than ever before even in contested divorces to wind up with equal custody. It’s not guaranteed, it’s factually based but it’s more common now than ever before.