Q: How to handle visitation when father is not legitimized?
Mother and father were never married. Father has been in child's life the entire time. We have established paternity. He has never filed for legitimation. We have never had an actual custody agreement. Mother has always been primary caregiver. Sometimes we would try the every weekend thing, sometimes he wouldn't be able to.
Recently there was a situation where I was supposed to pick child up on a certain day and the father would not allow me to (no reason, he was just upset). Police informed me it was a civil matter and would not get involved. I do not wish to keep child away from father, but I do not want that situation to happen again where I am unable to get our child until days later. I would rather have a court ordered custody agreement established. I'm aware the first step would be father filing a petition for legitimation. Until this happens, how do I handle visitation? I'm afraid to send child with father again because of what happened.
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- Georgia
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- Answered
A: You do not have to let the child go with the father based on what happened. You can file a case for paternity and child support, and he may choose to counterclaim with a request for parenting time. But speaking with an attorney about establishing a child support case would be the next step.
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