Q: When is it abandonment?
I had a short fling with an old friend, found out he had an extensive criminal record, that includes DV, and drug use and multiple thefts.He’s threatened to come to my house if I didn’t answer the phone. I tried co parenting but when he found out I was getting my conceal carry he said if I did he would use the gun to kill himself if he knew where it was. When I allowed him to my house to meet our daughter he went through every room of my house demanding to see where is child lived, he went as far as questioning if I had a security system.. He’s met our daughter twice. All supervised at ny house with witnesses. He is not on the birth certificate, she doesn’t have his last name, and paternity was never established. When is it considered abandonment or failure to establish paternity? The baby will be 1 in April. We haven’t heard from him since she was a month old. She’s 8 month old. I worry if he does get any kind of visits he will hurt her.
A: If you were not married to him, and a court has not granted him any parental rights to your child, then he has none, and as the mother, you have sole legal custody and decide who gets to spend time with your child, or can prohibit all contact. You could initiate action to have him pay child support, and he will be required to take a paternity test. But if proven to be the father and ordered to pay child support, then he could file with the court for parental rights and ask the court to establish parenting time for him with your child. He could file with the court for parental rights even if you didn't file for child support. So different things could happen. Use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain a local family law attorney who can review all the facts and circumstances, and then advise you.
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