Conference quokka::non_custodial_parents

    
    Aboout 10%.  That is the ones who actually fight.  Not counting the
    ones that the mother doesn't fight for.
    
    fred();

	  The commonly quoted figure is 70%.

	  However, "custody" is for this _one_ statistic cleverly defined
     as "at least joint legal custody," where it is defined as "primary
     physical custody" for every other statistic having to do with custody.
     Joint legal custody gives the non-custodial parent the right to
     express an opinion -- not to have it taken into consideration, mind
     you, just to _express_ it.

	  The census results show roughly 16% of families with children,
     other than families of married natural parents, are headed by the
     father.  This is roughly the same as the percentage of families where
     children are cared for by their grandparents.  This 16% includes
     families where the mother has died, been imprisioned, abandoned the
     family, been assigned to a remote military base, or otherwise become
     simply unavailable to head a household.  Since roughly 40% of families
     other than families of married natural parents are families where
     parents divorced, the odds of a divorcing father getting primary
     physical custody -- the type of custody that shows up in census
     reports as where the children live -- are no better than 30%.
     [Nailing it down exactly would require demographic information I don't
     have.]

	  fred()'s 10% for contested cases sounds about right.

				     Brian

    
    As Brian said, berware of "Joint Legal Custody" being lumped in as a "win".
    Joint Legal Custody gives the NCP access to certain legal records and the
    right to get the child medical treatment---and very little else.
    "Shared Custody" and/or "Joint Physical Custody" is where the child
    divides time in the custody of both parents.
    
    fred();