My husband wants to obtain joint custody of his daughter.

I am going to play devils' advocate her. why do you want to stir this up and divide a child into percentages? 30% is more than most intact parents see their kids. You can't bond at 30% of the time? Why not?

What can you do with the other 20% that you can't do now?
want to get along? stay out of court, play nice , respect the other party and the fact you now have another child and she has just the one, and if you play nice , you might find you havethe chilkd at will. Court proceedings are adversarial. period. that is how they are constructed. So, do you want to be adversaries or co-parents? Children form bonds at da care , with people they interact with a total of an hour a day. My best advice is don't alienate the mother, enjoy your family, count your blessings , and yes, I think you will appear "petty" and demanding if you had brough this 20% issue to my court for the reason of binding with a newborn step baby. You asked, I told.
The court decides based on the best interest of the child , not what the adults want. A 3 yr old playing with a new baby is probably good at 30% of the 3 yr olds life.

But she does have another child, and is in a new relationship as well, not that I want to disrupt her rights as a mother as I too have 2 daughters from a previous relionship, and understand the responsibility as a mother in this situation. But in fact my reasoning is that this little girl has something very special she has 2 loving families that want to spend time with her . She has siblings in both homes and she too has a right to interact in all family functions from both sides. We want what is best for this little girl. I also understand my husband he wants the opportunity to be as much of a full time dad with his daughter as he now has with his new son , but realistically he can not but he would like to share the same opportunities that the mother has as well. And well from an undertsanding mothers point of view I think that a willing father deserves this right.

My answer still stands; all I can opine , is how I would view the 30% vs 50% issue; at the age of the children, I don't view the adversarial alienation inherent in the court process, nor the reason ( 20% more "bonding time" )as a valid reason to shift a recently ( less than 5 years)enacted custody order.

So basically ....you do not believe that a father has a right to want to spend equal amount of time with his child......
My opinion on this is that you are a very small minded person. A father who loves his child and is an amazing father and key word here is WILLING to spend time with his child is in my book very rare. There are children in this world who don't even know who thier father is , not because of the mother but because they have dead beat dads . And really you have been no help to me .
I would honestly put you in a catigory as a man hater ...And maybe you should read statistics of the benefits of raising a chilld in a shared custody environment.
As for the percentages I have quoted this is due to government papers because that is how they state time share...it is a cruel world and people such as yourself are never going to make a differance by being so closed minded to the fact that parents have rights not just mothers ....remember it takes two to bring a child into the world and a villiage to raise them.

One paramount consideration for the custody of a minor child is her welfare. You have to prove in the court that the joint custody of a child is in her best interest and if your reasoning are condifence inspiring then the court would have no other option except to allow the joint custody of the child as per your prayer.

Your insults aside ( and what makes you think I am a woman?) I offered you on former judge's opinion. If you listen, I am telling you the reasoning for the change is not persuasive. The hearing won't be about "other people" or who sees their father and who doesn't; only about the child , the natural father, and the natural mother and if the status quo is working for the child. If you bring that attitude to the courtroom, you will harm the father's case. The courts have seen many a step mother as the grinding force behind proffered changes. If you just want people to agree with you, just say so in your question.

To SRDsq
I was asking what right as a father he has....as the rights of a father are always so difficult to understand.
We have tried to stay out of the courts and work with personal mediation.
But when this was sugessted the threat of losing time with his child was made by the mother.
Once she started withholding this time that he has been having with his daughter this was his next step.
Now , as a mother of two , before I remarried , I am aware of how the mediation and the court works when it comes to the family issue.
I also know he does have a very promising chance of getting the shared custody.

I have not indulged the mothers antics, or attitude concerning this I marely asked a question to satisfy my husbands worries.

I do not have attitude , and if you know anything about court proceedings usually it is only the biological parents allowed to attend the proceedings.
I as a step mother have no rights. But I do love this little girl and I do love my husband as is so very proud of the type of father he is..

So to take your former judges opinion....if that is the fact then as a former judge you also know thatt every family issue is different and when it come to a childs best interest , there are the basic rights that all children have and then the ones that best suit the situation regarding the child.

So excuse be for coming off strong in my rebutle but I am an educated woman who is aware of how these matters unfold. I was just marely reassuring my husband that as a father he does not have to lose time with his child as the mother can not refuse this appointed time just because she doesn't like the proposal of shared custody.
Also to end our debate ....if you base every judgement on the same level then there are a lot of children that are not being treated fairly as all children are unique as are the families they belong to.

There was no debate, only an opinion

SRDEsq

Clearly I was looking for an educated opinion of which I have not recieved.

Aren't you glad I won't be on the bench for your husband's case. taht should make your day!