Q: I have not seen my 4 year old son in 8 weeks.
His father won't outright deny me the ability but keeps making up excuses every time I ask or have plans to go there because he wont allow me to take him with me. We were never married. I was however married to my daughters father when my son was born. We had to fill out certain paperwork in the hospital that was sent to my now ex husband with him agreeing that hes not my son's father. Everything was filled out and sent in. We never got his birth certificate for some reason. I recently ordered and received his BC. His biological dad is on the certificate. Does this count as establishing paternity or does he need to go to court to do that? He has no legal grounds for keeping our son from me and I've been trying to find a lawyer in between my work hours. Can I have the police make him hand over our son to me?
A:
The police won't enforce a *court* custody order, much less your say-so over who is supposed to have physical custody of your son. Cops aren't in the business of using kids as a rope in a game of tug-of-war between warring parents, and they'll refer you to the court once they make sure everyone's safe.
Biological father's name on the birth certificate is presumptive evidence that he's the father, and any attack on that would have to occur in the courts.
It sounds like you're going to need to file an emergency custody complaint in your county's Court of Common Pleas to get any relief here. If you're having trouble finding an attorney in Lackawanna County, contact that county's bar association's lawyer referral service at 570-969-9600.
Best of luck to you.
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