In Ohio, child custody is usually a part of a divorce or dissolution. Parents who are not married to each other determine these matters through the juvenile court system. In both types of cases, child custody is decided by what the court chooses to be in the best interests of the children. In Ohio, mothers and fathers are considered equally.

However, it is important to protect your parental rights by working with a child custody lawyer. With effective representation, you have a better chance to prove your case to the judge, and to do so in a timely matter. A good example of the importance of legal representation is a Chicago area visitation battle that has gone on for 12 years now. In this case, a father - who appears to be representing himself - has fought for visitation rights for more than a decade.

The very unusual case got its start when a married woman had a five-year affair with a married man. The affair ended just before boy turned 3, and soon thereafter the biological father sought visitation. DNA testing confirmed paternity, but the man was denied visitation for reasons that were not clear.

The boy's mother and her husband sought to adopt the boy at the same time the biological father filed for visitation, and it appears that little has been accomplished in either case. The legal battle has dragged on for more than 12 years, leading to multiple appellate court decisions and one Illinois Supreme Court decision.

In 2007, the state Supreme Court condemned the married couple, saying they were filing for adoption only to stall the biological father's visitation case. However, an appellate court criticized the biological father, saying he did not really want visitation but rather his goal was to punish the mother.

The court fight is raging on and the boy is now 16, and not only has he not seen his biological father, but he does not know that the man raising him is really his step-father. Just last month, an appeals court upheld an earlier decision that the boy may not be told the true identity of his biological father until he is 18.

Further details of this case were not presented in the news report because most of the records are sealed, so it is possible that unusual circumstances have pushed the courts to rule in this way. However, what we know of this saga illustrates the utmost importance of effective legal representation in child custody cases. The stakes are simply too high to risk.

Source: Chicago Tribune, "In Paternity dispute, family can withhold biological father's identity from teen, court rules," Steve Schmadeke, Jan. 2, 2012