Hello!
My name is "Miss_Anonymous" and I live in California. I have an 7 year old daughter. Her father and I were never married and we've been apart since she was 8 months old. He used to see her about 3 days out of the week, until he got in trouble with the law, got out of jail and moved on with his life. His parents have always seen her (in place of where he doesn't). Anything that happens in my daughters life has always been because of me. When my child started school, I picked it. I signed her up, I take her every morning and pick her up. His parents helped with school clothes because he would not. Again they're taking over his responsibility! Anyway, I just recently decided to go out of town to visit my sick father and I am taking my daughter (my fathers only grandchild), Her father decides that my daughter can not go and has threatened to take her with him until I return. I don't think that he has that right since he rarely visits her, and he doesn't help with any of her responsibilities. I had to apply for assistance (Welfare) because he does not pay child support or provide medical. Anyway, Can he legally keep me from taking my child out of town?

Is there any sort of custody agreement at this time ? One that has been through the courts. Also is he on the borth certificate ?

Well what does the child custody agree say that you filed in court when you separated from the father.

What does the visitation agreement say ( OK he does not use it but one written is still binding) about you taking the child where he can not use his visits.

But if this is merely a short term trip, ( not a move) then there should be nothing he can do.

Unless the grandparents have a court order giving them grandparents rights, you do't have to let them visit either.

So if you are worried, just don't let him see the child for now ( sounds like he does not anyway) he can't take a child he does not have in his possession.

***** with all of that said, I bet, my guess you are going to say, you have no written agreement, no court ordered custody, no court ordered child support.
So what you need to do ASAP is get that into place

He did sign the birth certificate, But other than that, You're right!. There is no written agreement, no court ordered custody, no court ordered child support ( I get the money that he should be paying, from the state- Not him) No written visitation- Nothing.

No first the state does not pay child support, it pays welfare, and he should be paying since to be frank, it is not may place to pay his support with my tax money.

But at this point, he is on the birth certificate, so he is as much the legal parent as you are, if he just took the child, honestly there is little you can do, since he is the father, on the birth certificate and there is no custody order to say he has to return the child.

You need to get it all done formal,

You and the father both have equal rights to custody of the child (Cal. Fam. Code section 3010). The problem is you have no parenting plan, no custody orders, so everything is up in the air so to speak. He can take his [I'm using "his" deliberately for emphasis] daughter and not let you see her, just like you can do the same to him. You can go out of town with your daughter without his permission but he could also do the same.

As others have stated, you need to get custody orders before you both get into a tug-a-war over your child, which is exactly what is going to happen and the police are not going to do anything about it other than to tell you to go to court and get custody orders, which is what I've just said.