Can adulterous trysts give rise to custody rights?

[Mr. QuestionMan]

Kentucky Supreme Court Wades into Extramarital Affairs

The court, in a 4-3 ruling, held that Christopher H. Egan has the right to assert paternity — along with visitation and custody rights— to a baby he claims to have fathered in 2008 during an extramarital affair with Julie Ann Stephens, the Lousiville Courier-Journal reports.

But in dissent, justice Bill Cunningham wrote that the majority ruling surrenders the institution of marriage “to the funeral pyre of modern convenience and unanchored values.” He added: “Who is right and who is wrong in our debate will be left to the long view of history.”

Turley says Cunningham’s opinion “reads more as a period piece of a time when the courts enforced majoritarian morals, even to the stigmatizing of children.”

Kentucky Supreme Court Wades into Extramarital Affairs - Law Blog - WSJ

[Friend In Court]

it's not adulterous trysts that lead to parenthood/custody rights, it's siring a child. History has already ruled on that point. The dissenting judge appears to be living in the Victorian era when children were stigmatized as bastards and not the adulterous dad who sired him.

[lunchbox]

A man's affair with another woman does not describe him as a father. Child custody should not be anchored on such basis.

[CAFamilyLaw44]

Unfortunately in the eyes of the law, adultery does not matter when it comes to determining which parent gets custody and for how much of the time.

[grim509]

Wether or not one is faithful to their spouse has little to no bearing on how good of a parent they are, and has zero bearing one what the best interests of the child are.

Illegitimate children are illegitimate children. What's appalling is how so many adults in society nowadays feel that's perfectly acceptable.

What's wrong with the way the piece reads? Society was a bit more civilized then, and perhaps we need to revisit our morality.

[lunchbox]

To add to my earlier post...

A lawyer can use adultery as evidence to show that the parent in question might not be able to provide a moral environment for the child. However, this does not mean that the court will put more weight on this than other important factors that are being considered in child custody.