Q: my childs father and I are not married. So paternity form will be filled out. Will he have to go get rights and pay
He thinks he gets out free and visits whenever. Is this true or does he have to go get rights and will they put him on child support.
A: A child born to unmarried parents is, by statute, in the custody of the mother. To assert any parental rights, the father must file a paternity ( now called parentage) action, get DNA testing done to confirm paternity and have the Court/Judge establish the legal relationship. This means the father has NO rights until the case is heard, but this does NOT mean that you should deny him time with the child during that process ( you are now connected to the father until this child is grown, and therefore you want to have a cordial relationship with him during the coming years.) Child support will be established during the parentage action.
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