Im 18 years old. I had my son May 2nd of this year! My sons father and I didn't get married, and I don't plan to marry him! But my question is.. what are his rights? As the father.. his name IS on the birth certificate. :mad: but there was nothing I could do about it! We live in Gwinnett County, Georgia and I don't know the laws.. or rights that he does have. I don't want brayden going off by himself with his father.. because he drinks a lot and drives. Therefore I don't feel like he would be safe. His father has been in and out of jail for the past 9 months. Due to probation voilations. If ANYONE can help. I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
Katie

You need to go to court and file for custody of the child. As it stands now he has as many rights as you have. This filing for custody will not have any bearing on child support or visitation. That will have to be done separately. Even if you file for support he will still have to file for visitation. Likewise if he files for visitation you will have to file for support. One has nothing to do with the other.

How do I file for custody? And what happends after I do that?

Either get an attorney or go to Family Court and ask the procedure. They will explain what you need to do and what will happen.

You should be able to obtain custody and child support. But you will probably not be able to deny him visitation if he asks for it. You may be able to limit visitation to supervised.

CFFPP: Legal Assistance—Georgia Question and Answer Handbook for Custodial Parents (http://www.cffpp.org/legal/georgia_c_en.html#paternity1) Out of curosity I searched some info on Georgia. The laws on custody in my state are different that Georgias. According to this site you have custody of the child. To be sure I would follow up with family court in your area they should be willing to answer your questions or your local police department may be willing to answer you.

Thank both of you so much!