Panel: Mothers should no longer be automatic custodial parent<br><br> - Haaretz

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Last update - 07:38 20/09/2007

Panel: Mothers should no longer be automatic custodial parent

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent

Divorced mothers are no longer to receive automatic custody on children under the age of 6, a public committee plans to recommend in the coming months to the Justice Ministry.

Should the recommendations of the committee - which was appointed by former Justice Minister Tzipi Livini - be accepted, they could lead the way to the annulment of the current law, which has remained unchanged for the past 45 years.

The committee, headed by Professor Dan Schnit, former Head of the School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University, proposes to replace the current clause of the custody law. Under the new clause, both parents will automatically receive joint custody on children under the age of 6.

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The recommendations were scheduled to be submitted this fall, but the committee is falling behind schedule because of internal disagreement between members, according to an official who is involved in the committee's work.

The official nonetheless said he believed the committee will recommend to change the current letter of the law. The official told Haaretz that the committee will hand in its findings and recommendation by the end of the year.

"There is not a single country in the Western World that still adheres to the clause affording mothers automatic custody," the official said. "The clause stems from the antiquated and classical family model where the mother takes care of the children, while the father goes off to work."

Some professionals whose work pertains to the committee believe that even if the recommendations of the committee are adopted, the courts would still be inclined to rule in favor of mothers, and award them more custody.

Na'amat women's organization, which is represented in the committee on reforming Israel's custody law, is opposed to changing the law.

"The law won't make more fathers suddenly take more responsibility over their children," says Attorney Talya Livni, the organization's chairwoman. "This sort of change will require a gradual social shift. The revision of the law would, however, expose women to more extortion from men, who might threaten to file for custody unless their ex-wives agree to make material concessions."

Presiding in the committee are experts and professional from many area, including Justice Ministry personnel, high-ranking officials in social services, religious experts academics, women's rights activists and parent organizations.

Those in favor of shifting to a joint-custody framework, however, think that offering divorced fathers more automatic custody could serve to encourage more fathers to assume a more active parenting role. They also hope the partnership between parents could serve to reduce the potential for conflicts within the family.

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1.	Every Case is Different	08:04	\|	Niall	20/09/07

2.	Unbelievable	09:20	\|	Simon	20/09/07

3.	Mothers	09:40	\|	Carolyn	20/09/07

4.	Great step forward but a few more to go	09:42	\|	Yves	20/09/07

5.	About time too	09:43	\|	Dr Robert Frosch	20/09/07

6.	Joint custody good, Naamat: not so much	10:02	\|	Ian	20/09/07

7.	Sounds like a good reform	14:23	\|	Alice of Wonderland	20/09/07

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