cover image Fathers' Rights: Hard-Hitting and Fair Advice for Every Father Involved in a Custody Dispute

Fathers' Rights: Hard-Hitting and Fair Advice for Every Father Involved in a Custody Dispute

Jeffrey Leving, Jeffery Leving. Basic Books, $23 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-465-02443-8

Any father involved in a conflict over custody of the children will find a wealth of practical information in this comprehensive guide. Leving, a domestic relations attorney who conducts seminars on men's rights, and Dachman, a psychologist, have put together a manual that addresses many topics, including how to avoid mistakes that will result in loss of custody or visitation rights, how to choose a lawyer, negotiation strategies, going to trial and how to behave toward one's ex-wife. Leving and Dachman wisely caution against rash behavior that will harm the children and recommend rational negotiation as the best strategy, but they argue that men are unfairly excluded from their children's lives by a biased legal system. The authors' directing of the book to fathers only and their strong advocacy of fathers' rights lead to several controversial contentions, such as that men fail to pay child support chiefly because they are excluded from their children's lives and that, in most homes, mothers and fathers share child-care duties. (Apr.)