Wife of 7-years is Divorcing Me p7

[25yearsmlc]

here's a piece of a long article on what I think your w's assumptions are based on...which is out dated I think.
She seems to believe that mothers are entitled to custody in most states but that's not b/c of what judges do or say, but simply what most mothers & fathers agree to.

So here's what I found that might interest you. Of course seek your own counsel and take some action.

Tender Years Doctrine (which favored mothers in custody) used to be the law in most states and women had to be found unfit to not win.

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.


South Carolina has formally abolished the "tender years doctrine," a common-law presumption that placing a young child with the mother is in the child's best interests. While a baby's mother may sometimes have a practical advantage over the father in family court, there exists no presumption that the mother should get custody of the child rather than the father.