Fathers' Rights of Nebraska

Fathers' Rights of Nebraska's mission is to improve the current treatment that most devoted and dedicated fathers, as well as some mothers, across the State of Nebraska encounter every day as they enter into the divorce or child custody process. In an attempt to accomplish our mission and end the judicial bias, discrimination and prejudices, we have developed a set of clearly defined goals. These goals target the injustices we aim to eliminate or reform.

Divorced fathers of Nebraska are not violent criminals or Lepers suffering from some contagious disease, so why are we being treated as such? Why is the value of motherhood placed on such a high pedestal, while the value of fatherhood is stomped on like a bushel of grapes? These questions remain unanswered, but we are setting out to convey the truth and put an end to the rampant discrimination that fathers face daily in Divorce Courts throughout Nebraska.

In no way should you misinterpret our mission as an attempt to discredit the role of our children's mothers or the value of motherhood as a whole. We fully understand the importance of our children's mothers, and promote the relationship between our children and their mothers. We promote parental responsibility toward children by encouraging parents to put their children first - before their own needs and desires. We promote the concept that parents going through child custody situations must separate their personal feelings about the opposite parent in favor of the well-being of the children. We promote parental equality, except in compelling circumstances such as proven abuse or neglect. We believe that children need both biological parents equally.

We are tired of having our children legally kidnapped from us! We are tired of being relegated to the sidelines only to have another man gain several times more access to our children than we have! We are tired feeling as though we've been adjudicated "guilty" without the due process of proving ourselves innocent! Finally, we are tired of being discriminated against without cause!

In Nebraska, fathers have very few rights in the child custody process. The only right handed out in the divorce courts, is the right for fathers to be visitors in their children's lives. Again, we are relegated to the sidelines, only to be on the outside looking in, and watching our children as they grow further apart from us as each day comes and goes. Very few mothers know the feeling of being on the outside looking in, but for those of you who do, we are behind you as well. Also, we would certainly like to give credit where credit is due, because there are some mothers that appreciate and acknowledge the importance of a father to his children. It is these mothers that give the unequivocal okay to grant joint custody and do not stifle fathers' relationships with their children. They do this, not only because they understand the importance of a father, but also because they are able to set aside their personal feelings and place the best interest of the children at heart. Albeit rare, this does happen, and we do thank you.

The current child custody standard in the State of Nebraska came from a Nebraska Supreme Court case -- Wilson vs. Wilson. Wilson vs. Wilson was forged over sixteen years ago and has been wreaking havoc upon Nebraska fatherhood ever since. In this case, the Nebraska Supreme Court took joint custody away from a father and left him with no custodial rights. It is biased and it discriminates against fathers and their relationships with their children. Wilson vs. Wilson certainly does not afford fathers the right to be a parent; rather, it is more of a punishment for not maintaining the relationship with the mother of your children.

The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection. Section 1 states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Due process guarantees us the right to a fair and public trial conducted in a competent manner. There is hardly anything fair about what was derived from Wilson vs. Wilson, and fathers certainly do not receive equal protection from Wilson vs. Wilson. Furthermore, Judges are not acting in a competent manner when they insidiously force Wilson vs. Wilson upon Nebraska fatherhood. How can you competently impose Wilson vs. Wilson upon the relationship between a father and his children; especially when there are studies, statistics, and Child Psychologists that clearly indicate that joint physical custody is what is best for children? This information may not have been available 16 years ago, but it is today and there is no excuse that justifies keeping fathers who love and want their children from children who love and need their fathers.

Times have changed; divorce and child custody related statistics have changed; the roles of mothers have changed; and the roles of fathers have changed. Unfortunately, Judges decisions are not changing. They have made a mockery out of Nebraska fathers for far too long and it is now time for the laws to be changed. Have Judges not seen the statistics relating to children who have grown up without a father or the influence of their biological father? Well, they should be aware of these statistics, because they sentence many of these children through adulthood day after day in Criminal Court. Our prisons are full of these one-time children who were raised in the custody of a single parent - primarily mothers. Judges do have the ability to deviate from Wilson vs. Wilson, but rarely do, and the aforementioned statistics are a product of their injustice. As mentioned, Judges do have the ability to give a father more than the measly every other weekend and one night per week (Wilson vs. Wilson). Unfortunately, this is not only done rarely, but very inconsistently as well. We have no problem with punishing a person for committing a crime. After all, "You commit a crime and you do the time." Is being a father equivalent to committing a crime? The answer is no. So why are Nebraska fathers being punished? To punish a person because he is merely a father is pure malice. Apparently, Judges have never had their children taken from them, because if they had they would not be doing what they are doing. A person would have to have no conscience to intentionally keep another person's children from him. To simply say it's the law may help one justify sleeping at night, but it's not for the benefit of the children. Having the power and right to do something does not mean it is always the right thing to do. Keeping fathers from their children is not the right thing to do! There is plenty of documentation outlining the value of fatherhood, especially after divorce or separation. Yet, Judges continue to play God with the relationships between fathers and their children, and what they are doing is not what is best for the children!

Judges are basically stating you are only fathers, and their judgments further emphasize that fathers are of little value and/or importance to their children. They allow bitter and disgruntled mothers to have full power over fathers as they manipulate the system and use their children as their pawns. Many mothers carry personal vendettas against their children's fathers. These types of mothers will do everything in their power to stifle the father's relationship with his children. Where is the built in security in our current system to protect us from this? Where is the built in security in our current system to protect a father's relationship with his children from the type of mother that is not competent enough to realize that a father who loves his children is as equally important to their children as she is? The answer is that there is no built in security system that will protect a father's relationship with his children from the aforementioned type of mothers. Everything in placed in the hands of a Judge who does not want to deal with this in the first place. The Judge then attempts to move these child custody cases through his courtroom docket in the most expeditious manner possible. Unfortunately for fathers and their children, this most expeditious manner is one that has not involved change for a long, long time. It is a manner that discriminates against fathers and the relationships they have with their children. You are hereby sentenced to spending 80% of your life, for the next 18 years, without seeing your children. Bailiff take him away!

As we previously mentioned, we whole-heartedly support those mothers who have the best interests of their children in mind, and who fully understand the importance of both parents in their children's lives. Unfortunately, far too many custodial mothers see little or no value in the presence of a father in their children's lives, and some actively work to sabotage any involvement whatsoever. We have encountered several mothers who have grown up without a father and do not understand the value and importance that fathers have in the lives of children. As fathers reach out to be in their children's lives, they are hit with every dirty trick in the book. There are mothers that maliciously move away to keep a father and his children apart. There are mothers that ever so vigorously file frivolous restraining and protection orders to swing the court pendulum toward their side and ensure a limited relationship between a father and his children. There are also mothers who lie to their children about their father; they will denigrate him in any way possible. This psychological warfare is a form of child abuse that frequently goes unpunished, and almost always causes irreparable damage to the children. The above types of ignorance are just a few examples of the barriers to equality that fathers face every day. We must eliminate these barriers to achieve equality and more importantly to prevent further damage to our children.

Our adversaries contend that fathers only want involvement with their children to avoid having to pay child support. The reason fathers want involvement with their children, is because our children love and need their fathers and fathers love and want their children. If divorce had been as prevalent when our founding fathers drafted the U.S. Constitution, as it is today, fathers' rights would not even be an issue. Fathers' rights would be as American as apple pie. Unfortunately, all Nebraska fathers receive today is the left over crust.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), if a person provides more than half of their dependent's (children) court ordered financial support in a given year, they can claim an income tax dependency exemption for their dependent (children). However, the IRS indicates that if you are a non-custodial parent, you do not have rights to claim your children unless your ex-spouse signs a Release of Claim of Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, Form 8332, or your Judge grants you this right in your decree. You can rest assured that the Form 8332 will not be signed by your ex-spouse unless it is court ordered. Most non-custodial or joint legal custody parents (mostly fathers) are providing, by court order, much more than the IRS requirement of half of their children's support. Some of us are lucky to receive the court ordered exemption every other year, even though we should be granted this right every year. Adding insult to injury, we are not able to write-off our child support payments and the mothers of our children do not have to claim the child support we pay them. It's free money to them, but of course we all know 100% of it goes to our children, so why should we complain? We should complain about the fact that by court order, we are providing more than half of our children's financial support, in some cases up to 100%, and not being permitted to have the exemption every year. Some fathers are not awarded the dependency exemption at all and some fathers receive it every other year, while other fathers are fortunate enough to receive it every year. There is no consistency whatsoever, except the fact that the Judges are not being consistent. Custody or not, if the custodial or non-custodial parent is providing more than half of our dependent's court ordered financial support, and are current on their support, the courts of Nebraska should recognize this and grant that parent the dependency exemption every year. Until then, the discrimination against the fathers of Nebraska will continue in this venue as well.

The Children's Rights Council has documented Census Bureau statistics indicating that states with the highest amount of physical joint custody have the lowest rates of divorce. Nebraska is certainly not one of these states. As a matter of fact, Nebraska's system would lead one to believe that the state is promoting divorce rather than attempting to reduce it. Divorce statistics are at epidemic proportions, and the negative statistics surrounding children of divorce, without a father or the significant influence of their biological father, are even more alarming. Visit our statistics page to see for yourself.

If advocates for both fathers and children do not stand up for what is right, who is going to? The answer is no one! With your assistance, we can and will make a difference. We are not quitting on your children, the children of Nebraska, so don't you quit either!

For those fathers reading this who are not in a custody battle fighting for their children, it is important to remember that while you enjoy full access to your children today, what will tomorrow bring? What will next year bring? Don't think it can't happen to you! Statistics indicate that well over half of today's marriages will end in divorce and/or in the child custody process. And, if you do not know it now, unless parents agree to put aside their bitterness for the sake of the children, you will most likely join the ranks of those fathers who are only permitted see their children every other weekend and one night per week. If you are lucky, you might even get a phone call. Is that enough for you? We hope not. If you are planning ahead for your children's financial future, you might want to think about planning ahead for your children's future relationship with you as their father. Please don't wait until it is too late!

You do not have to be a father or a non-custodial parent to become a member; all you have to do is believe that children need two loving parents and that fathers should be considered equal parents too! Together we need to stand up for the rights of all fathers, as well as future fathers, across the state of Nebraska and put an end to the rampant discrimination that fathers face in the child custody process. It is time we unite, fight with all our might, and not quit until we have set this archaic system right and have blown the discrimination out of sight. Some fathers fight in wars and battles on behalf of our beloved country; but every father should elect to fight a battle that involves the right to be an equal part in the life of his children, and for the protection and well-being of his children. Do not lose focus and do not give up! After all, we are all brothers in this battle and our children are counting on us!

Listed below are some suggestions on how you can make a difference:

1. Join Fathers' Rights of Nebraska;
2. Tell a friend or family member about Fathers' Rights of Nebraska;
3. Call and/or write your State Senator, as well as other Nebraska State Senators;
4. Donate, if you are able; this will assist in furthering the cause.