Tender Years Doctrine

Tender Years Doctrine

The Tender Years Doctrine is a legal doctrine in child custody cases which has existed in Family Law since the late 19th century. The doctrine presumes that during a child's "tender" years (generally regarded as the of age thirteen and under), the custody of the child should be that of the mother's. This doctrine is applicable in divorce proceedings, but has been replaced on the books in by most states by the "Best Interests of the Children" doctrine of child custody. Several courts have held that the Tender Years Doctrine violates the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Critics of the family court system, and in particular father's rights groups, contend that although the Tender Years Doctrine has formally been replaced by the Best Interests of the Children doctrine, the Tender Years Doctrine is still the means by which child custody is primarily determined in family courts nationwide. Statistics such as those from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that family courts still demonstrate an overwhelming preference to place children of divorce in the custody of their mothers. Critics maintain that the father must prove the mother to be an unfit parent before he is awarded primary custody, while the mother need not prove the father unfit in order to win custody herself, a direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

ee also

*Father's rights
*Matriarchy

References

*Tender Years Doctrine [http://law.enotes.com/wests-law-encyclopedia/tender-years-doctrine] Oct. 20 2006.
*Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001 [http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf] October 2003


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