Q: What do I do if my child’s father did not sign the birth certificate? I was 17, the father 18…
He didn’t want to sign because the baby was getting my last name and not his, he’s been so inconsistent and now our baby is almost 9 months old and he’s randomly trying to come around more and even mentioning having unsupervised visits with him. The baby is in my care 24/7 and I don’t feel it’s fair that at any point he can just go and file for legitimation/custody. The father has the option to just do that whenever he wants, what option does the mother have to protect her baby from a basically stranger taking him on the weekends?? Is there anything I can do to prevent him trying to get custody of him? I let him visit and have never turned him away, I just don’t want him trying to do anything more when he’s not a good father. Please help me
- let me also add he does not support financially at all.
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A: You can't stop him from filing a legitimation case. Fathers are presumed to be able to figure out how to parent just like you figured it out. When he files, you can hire an attorney to respond to the case. In the meantime, unless he has a severe drug, alcohol problem or something similar, you should let him spend time with his child and it will help you feel more comfortable if and when he files for court ordered parenting time, which nearly every father who files for gets.
A: If the baby is biologically his then it is his child as well and he has every right to legitimize and seek some custody/visitation rights. You have every right to seek child support from him. The courts generally focus on what is best for the child, which is to have both parents in the child’s life whenever it is possible. The child’s father won’t be a stranger if you stop trying to keep them from spending time together.
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