I’m not a woman but I came across this site in search of some sort of guidance
I am a single father, have been for 2.5 years, the mother of my son left him at a McDonald’s for my parents to pick up and after that she has only seen and called a handful of times (she has sent emails mainly around Christmas, his birthday and during Mother’s Day). Before that I would drive him to her as she said it was too far of a drive for her to come see him, I stopped after I realized her efforts weren’t genuine as she never came to see him or would always say she was too busy or had plans so she couldn’t have him stay or would cancel last minute. I have never asked for money for him nor has she ever offered to buy him food, clothes or asked about his well being, I never filed for custody because I genuinely thought she would change or maybe after the first year of her being absent in his life her responsibility as a mother would come into play, sadly that never happened. She is now married and lives out of county, but recently she contacted me saying she wanted to be a part of my sons life, normally I would’ve agreed as my son deserves his mother, but after so long and having my son 365 days out of the year for 24hrs each day my mentality as a father has strengthened. He is starting school soon and I want to file for sole custody because I love my son more than anything else in this world and to me his mother has become a stranger as she prioritized her wants and needs before our sons needs. I know I’m ranting I’ve just never vented about this, I also heard 9 times out of 10 mothers always win custody battles so with that being said if anyone can give me advice or share some insight on how I should proceed moving forward I would greatly appreciate it.
Kudos to you for being a single father trying to make the best life possible for your son.
My best advice would be to lawyer up first. That person will give you an honest opinion of what your options are and even will give you insight of whether or not you have to take it court. If she's agreeable, it can be settled out of court or through mediation. Even with sole custody, she will have to get visitation rights but I know from experience with my friends' whose kids have a parent like the mother of your son that as time goes on, the kids see through them and get fed up with their broken promises that they themselves tell the parent who has sole custody of them that they no longer what to see that other parent.