Q: I have been sole caregiver for my 1 year son, bd has visited a few times, not on birth cert can I relocate out of state?
I have been caring for my son his whole year of life, I recieve TANF assistance in oregon, which i believe required me to file for child support. the father has not been around first 6 months he was in jail, now he is around and making things uncomfortable, I want to relocate to missouri for work and to be near supportive friends. He is not on the birth certificate. Did filing for support establish paternity? What do I need to do to move legally? I want to be sure this person never has alone time with my child.
A:
Yes, you would have been required to start the child support process in order to get TANF. As part of the support process, they will have to establish Paternity first. Once that is done they will establish the support.
The support process will not include a determination of which parent has legal custody and will not establish visitation rights. So that is currently not established and won't be until one of the parents goes to court. So technically you are free to move with your child, but since custody and visitation are up in the air, the father could file for custody and/or visitation after you move, and he will be able to file in Oregon for up to one year after you move. You on the other hand won't be able to file anything in Missouri concerning custody until you have been there for at least six months, although there may be an exception for an emergency order.
By moving your risk having some court determine that the father has visitation rights which would mean sending your child back to Oregon for visitation. Given that the father has a criminal history, you may have excellent grounds to get custody of your child and limit father's involvement to supervised visitation. I highly recommend that you schedule a consultation with an experienced family law lawyer to discuss the pros and cons of moving right now. You may be able to fix your problem by staying in Oregon and getting a Family Abuse Restraining Order if you have concerns for your safety, which can give you temporary custody for one year, then, before the restraining order expires, file for custody and deal with whatever visitation plans the father might seek by asking for supervised visitation. But see an attorney first to discuss these options.
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