I am a father of a ten (10) years old. His mother fell on hard times in Jan. of 2009. I bailed her out jail in the same month and I have had my son every since. She has since moved out of state with no contact. She has also claimed him on her taxes this year with no right to since I've had him since Jan. 2009. I need to find out what steps I need to take in order to have sole custody. I have already had a D.N.A. test done, but do not know what to do next. Oh, by the way, I am in Georgia.

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Originally Posted by singledaddy

I am a father of a ten (10) years old. His mother fell on hard times in Jan. of 2009. I bailed her out jail in the same month and I have had my son every since. She has since moved out of state with no contact. She has also claimed him on her taxes this year with no right to since I've had him since Jan. 2009. I need to find out what steps I need to take in order to have sole custody. I have already had a D.N.A. test done, but do not know what to do next. Oh, by the way, I am in Georgia.

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Technically, if she showed up at your doorstep right now and demanded the child, you would be required to give him over to her care. You haven't filed to change physical custody/placement of the child, so she is still legally his custodial parent.

You said that a DNA test was performed - was it done through the courts? If not, it needs to be in order for it to be legal. Are you listed on the birth certificate? Is there a current support and custody order?

You go into court and file for it. It's that simple. You will also somehow find the mom or have to have her served by public notice.

Actually if you don't have legal custody, and she still has legal custody, she may still have a right to claim the child, but that is another issue for the tax forum.

Right now if you have not went to court and changed the court order to get custody of the child then you have no real rights until this is done