Hi,
I was wondering what the legal rights are of an unmarried father of a child in California. ( I am writing on behalf of my brother and out of concern. He has yet to seek the help of a lawyer.

My brother and his ex-girlfriend had a child together 1 year ago. He never wanted to marry, and they do not live together. They are not a couple, and have not been for over a year. Their son is just 1 year old.

He has been giving her lts of money ( I am talking thousands a month) for washers dryers, baby clothes, groceries, and even buys gifts for her other sons. He pays for the full time live in nanny. He keeps all his receipts.

My brother loves his son more than anything. He takes him every weekend, and stops by to see him during the week before work. ( Her time and decision)

She wants to be in a relationship with my brother but he does not She is of course upset by this, and now manipulating my brother's time with his son/ She is currenty taking 3 different medications ( after she admitted herself to the hospital), is on the verge of losing her job and now threatening to move to another state

Since they are not married, I was wondering what are my brother's rights as a father? How much custody can he be awarded? How much child support would he have to pay?

I cannot say enough good things about my brother. I hope you can offer some help to me

Thanks for your help!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mbt14

Hi,
I was wondering what the legal rights are of an unmarried father of a child in California. ( I am writing on behalf of my brother and out of concern. He has yet to seek the help of a lawyer.

My brother and his ex-girlfriend had a child together 1 year ago. He never wanted to marry, and they do not live together. They are not a couple, and have not been for over a year. Their son is just 1 year old.

He has been giving her lts of money ( I am talking thousands a month) for washers dryers, baby clothes, groceries, and even buys gifts for her other sons. He pays for the full time live in nanny. He keeps all his receipts.

My brother loves his son more than anything. He takes him every weekend, and stops by to see him during the week before work. ( Her time and decision)

She wants to be in a relationship with my brother but he does not She is of course upset by this, and now manipulating my brother's time with his son/ She is currenty taking 3 different medications ( after she admitted herself to the hospital), is on the verge of losing her job and now threatening to move to another state

Since they are not married, I was wondering what are my brother's rights as a father? How much custody can he be awarded? How much child support would he have to pay?

I cannot say enough good things about my brother. I hope you can offer some help to me

Thanks for your help!

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There are no Court Orders concerning custody/visitation? He should go to Court NOW and request whatever it is he wants (custody, visitation) and she will counter with a request for a dollar amount of support. Is he the acknowledged father - birth certificate, DNA?

Is you use the "search" feature next to the AMHD logo at the top of this page you will find TONS of info about child support/California.

If she is a danger to the child (and I would assume that is why you posted that she takes 3 medications), then that is what your brother proves in Court. As far as moving to another State - if there is no custody order she can go anywhere she wants and take the child with her.

Is he on the birth certificate? Has any court orders for custody and/or support been made?

Your brother's case is pretty easy.

First it would help to know if he signed a voluntary declaration of paternity (pop-dec)when the child was born. If so (and you can know this for sure if his name is on the birth certificate because no one may be named by law on the birth certificate as father of any child unless he was married to the mother when the baby was born or a pop-dec were signed), then he is legally the father with all the same rights and duties of any father (the same as if he were married to the mom) without even going to court. But to get custody orders and to prevent a move out of state he needs to file an action in court. If he did not sign a pop-dec, he merely needs to allege he is the father in his court action and he can still have custody and visitation ordered while the case is pending.

The form used for the action he must file (and it's a mandatory form so you have to use it) is called "Petition to Establish Parental Relationship." Along with it your brother needs to file a Summons and another mandatory form entitled "Declaration under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act." The later form identifies where the child has resided and with whom for the last 5 years, or if the child is under 5, since birth.

The mere filing of the Summons, Petition and UCCJEA Declaration causes an automatic temporary restraining order to go into effect (called ATRO) which, once served on the mom, prevents her from leaving the state with the child without your written consent or an order from the court. A violation of the ATRO is punishable as a contempt and as a criminal action (felony/misdemeanor). So, if a move-away is a concern, be sure to file this action immediately and have the mom served.

As part of filing the action to establish parental relationship, your brother will probably want to request custody and visitation orders. That requires an OSC or motion be filed and set for hearing. Your brother can ask for sole legal and physical custody of the child with visitation to the mom if he wants or any sort of time sharing arrangement he thinks is appropriate. Your brother and the mom will have to attend mediation with a mental health professional to try and work out an agreement before the case is heard (the court provides mediation as a free service) unless they have a full agreement from the get-go (this is mandatory and the judge cannot make custody orders until the parties have been to mediation). Your brother can also ask that child support be set at the same time (you need to know the timeshare with the child to figure out support first).

If your brother cannot afford an attorney have him visit the Family Law Facilitator's Office at the local court house and they can assist, free of charge, with filling out the proper forms. But do encourage your brother to act promptly since he really should avail himself of the benefit of having the restraining orders in place that come automatically with filing the action if he is concerned about the mom taking off with the child.