Custody battles are emotionally intense events for children to experience, especially when parents have difficulty coming to an amicable agreement. Dr. Mashiach Lassiter, a business professional and certified coach, is working to improve this process for children by opening a nonprofit that makes the process more sensitive to what youth want.
According to research, about 20% of custody battles end with a father receiving full or majority custody of their children. Figures also expand on the bias toward fathers in family court by showing that they receive an average of 10% less child support than mothers. While most state courts are ethical in their proceedings, each case is subject to a certain bias. In family court specifically, many judges sympathize with a mother because of their personal belief that the woman is a safer, more reliable caregiver. However, this may be untrue in certain cases and endanger a child’s well-being if gender stereotypes are used to come to a ruling.
Every parent hopes to never go through a divorce. The process is stressful, expensive, and emotionally traumatizing for both a parent and their children. Unfortunately, divorce is a common occurrence globally. Rates in the US were at a 40-year low until they rose slightly in 2022 to 14.56 divorces per 1,000 married women. Although the frequency of divorce is constantly shifting, the bureaucracy of the process has largely remained the same over the decades.
Similar to divorce proceedings, a parent has to serve the other with paperwork citing the grounds for seeking custody. The individual receiving these forms can accept the terms or request a custody trial to fight the proposal. Parents settle the majority of custody battles outside court by agreeing on a plan that equally serves the adults involved and any children.
However, custody battles do occur and they can inflict significant damage on a parent-child relationship. Joint custody–where care and time spent together is split evenly–is most common, but sole and primary custody are other rulings parents seek out. During a custody battle, the parent must prove why it will be more beneficial for the child to stay with them versus the other parent. Testimony from friends and family becomes critical in determining the correct decision, and sometimes one individual is deemed unfit to care for the child. This is a saddening moment for a parent and it also deeply scars a child. Every child wants to maintain a loving relationship with both of their parents if possible. When circumstances like abuse and neglect prevent that, children still feel abandoned and crave that individual. Experiencing these feelings at an early age can cause a child to feel disregarded and ignored by either their parents or the state that has jurisdiction over their case.
Dr. Mashiach Lassiter, a business professional and father, has firsthand experience in family court, fighting for his children's voices to be heard, rather than ignored - giving them the opportunity to know their father. Like many other fathers, he has felt discriminated against by state courts that unfairly side with a mother. His experience is one of millions that happen each year, and Dr. Lassiter hopes to end this cycle of suffering. In his opinion, the family court system is deeply flawed. Its focus on profits over people causes thousands of families to be torn apart in the process of custody proceedings. Dr. Lassiter notes that judges and social workers are often too overloaded to pay attention to important details, causing sloppy rulings to be made.
Additionally, he believes that children lack the power they have in society when being taken through a custody battle. Outside of the courts, children have a significant amount of autonomy to make decisions and have their voices heard. During the most tumultuous proceedings, they are merely relegated as pawns that either parent is trying to get a hold of. As a result, children’s voices are often silenced.
Even if a child has the desire to live with one parent over another, they are forced to move cities, states, or countries to abide by legal orders that don’t consider their perspective. Dr. Lassiter, who has dedicated much of his free time to youth development programs and other socially impactful missions, believes more must be done. He is planning to expand The Overlearning In Confidence (OIC) organization to achieve this goal. The nonprofit will enable parents in custody proceedings to rely on ethical, transparent legal experts for ongoing support. OIC will focus on championing the most beneficial outcomes for children and their parents. To achieve this, the OIC plans to partner with like-minded parents who have already gone through such hardship, giving them direct experience to prevent others from going through the same.
As America enters a new era of marriage and family, Dr. Lassiter hopes to be a changemaker ushering in a more equitable system, overhauling the family courts, to ensure we not only consider our youths' perspectives but give them the authority that they deserve.
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