Do Mississippi courts favor mothers having custody of younger children?
Does Dad have a chance of getting custody of his younger children in a Mississippi divorce?
For many years, fathers of younger children were discriminated against by a belief that children of a younger age (“tender years”) were better suited to be cared for by their mother rather than father. Courts regularly awarded custody of younger children to mothers over equally qualified fathers. Fortunately, this doctrine, know as the “tender years doctrine” in Mississippi, has faded some with time.
In a case out of Madison County, the Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled on this issue when a father was granted custody of his two 5 year old boys. The mother, who was living with an alcoholic man who had been arrested several times, argued that the tender years doctrine should have compelled the chancellor to grant her custody of her boys.
Upholding the award of custody to the father, the Court said the tender years doctrine “was merely a presumption that ‘in all cases where any child is of such tender age as to require the mother’s care for its physical welfare, it should be awarded to her custody, at least until that age and maturity where it can be equally well cared for by other persons.’” More importantly, the tender years doctrine is “just one factor” which the chancellor should weigh. See my previous post where I talk about the factors a chancellor considers when determining custody. The Mississippi Supreme Court has previously stated “the age and sex of a child are merely factors to be considered under Albright, and this
Court has significantly weakened the once strong presumption that a mother is generally best suited to raise a young child.” See Lee v. Lee, 798 So. 2d 1284, 1289 (Miss. 2001)
While a child's age may be relevant in determining whether the mother should be granted custody, there are many other factors for the chancellor to weigh in deciding who should be awarded custody of the children.
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