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jamieleigh · Apr 23, 2008, 09:48 AM

:confused: My nephew,20 yrs.old< started dating a girl who was 7 months pregnant.she was arrested and was in the county jail when she went into labor.They took her to the hospital where my nephew went with her.He ended up cutting the cord and all and then signed the birth cerificate as the father. The little girl now has his last name.The girlfriend did not go back to jail like she was supposed to and they came up and arrested her.We are not sure when she will be getting out.. but my question is this... what rights does my nephew have for his daughter? Can he leave the states with her without getting in trouble? Can she come back and take her away if she doesn't want to be with him anymore? I just need to get some answers to help him... He and our family love this baby and just want to keep her and my nephew safe.

cdad · Apr 23, 2008, 01:17 PM

Your in a strange spot. He waqsnt suppose to sign the birth certificate in the first place if he wasn't the paternal father. The paternal father can come up at any time and file suit to take the baby away and he could face jail time for signing it. Another thing is if he wants to leave the state then he better get the mothers permission because they weren't married at the time. Right now he is alone in his rights. He can petition the courts for custody and explain his mistakes but a search for the paternal father will still have to be done.

jamieleigh · Apr 23, 2008, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by califdadof3

Your in a strange spot. He waqsnt suppose to sign the birth certificate in the first place if he wasnt the paternal father. The paternal father can come up at any time and file suit to take the baby away and he could face jail time for signing it. Another thing is if he wants to leave the state then he better get the mothers permission because they werent married at the time. Right now he is alone in his rights. He can petition the courts for custody and explain his mistakes but a search for the paternal father will still have to be done.

THe biological father is in prison... don't know when he is to be released.

George_1950 · Apr 23, 2008, 01:46 PM

I believe he has putative (arguable) paternal rights, that will eventually be 'zero' rights when a court gets ahold of this. My guess is that since he knows the true facts, that if he takes off with the child, then she can take a warrant for kidnapping. I'm not predicting that; but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.

Bulldog23A · Apr 23, 2008, 01:54 PM

So the dad is in prison, and the mom is on her way its sounds like. Well, what kind of kid is your nephew? Women who like jailbirds and are jailbirds tend not to stray far from that pattern. If your nephew is a good guy and can stay out of trouble-in other words if he is ready to raise a kid, then he should probably worry more about the right thing for the child, and less about the legal issues. It sounds to me like the child needs a break, and if your nephew has a chance to change her life for the better forever, the right thing doesn't have much to do with legal nuances.

Fr_Chuck · Apr 23, 2008, 02:00 PM

Ok, since he is on the birth certificate, he is legally the father at this point and time. So much will depend ( if from the US) which state, in some states the bio father will have full rights till the child is 18, in other states the bio father will only have 1 to 3 years to come back and claim his paternity rights ( now the fact he is in jail and can not claim his rights, may have some say in this also)

But he can assume that at anytime the bio father can come back into the picture and try to reclaim his rights though DNA tests. So it is possible 10 years from now to lose his rights if the bio father comes forward.

Next since the mother and father are both on the birth certificate both have equal rights at this point, so the mother can come anytime she wants and try and take her child. So unless he takes her to court to get physcial custody of the child, then it is a matter that they both have rights to child.

So does he have a legal right now to move anywhere he wants with the child, yes he does.
Can the mother or the bio father come and chase them down in the future and sue for custody, yes they can do that also.

jamieleigh · May 23, 2008, 08:32 AM

Originally Posted by Bulldog23A

So the dad is in prison, and the mom is on her way its sounds like. Well, what kind of kid is your nephew? Women who like jailbirds and are jailbirds tend not to stray far from that pattern. If your nephew is a good guy and can stay out of trouble-in other words if he is ready to raise a kid, then he should probably worry more about the right thing for the child, and less about the legal issues. It sounds to me like the child needs a break, and if your nephew has a chance to change her life for the better forever, the right thing doesn't have much to do with legal nuances.

My nephew is a good kid... he is now working and taking care of his little girl. He has decided to wait for the mother to get out of jail before they move to Las Vegas.I am really proud of him for taking the iniative to care for this little girl.
:)

jamieleigh · May 23, 2008, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Ok, since he is on the birth certificate, he is legally the father at this point and time. So much will depend ( if from the US) which state, in some states the bio father will have full rights till the child is 18, in other states the bio father will only have 1 to 3 years to come back and claim his paternity rights ( now the fact he is in jail and can not claim his rights, may have some say in this also)

But he can assume that at anytime the bio father can come back into the picture and try to reclaim his rights though DNA tests. so it is possible 10 years from now to lose his rights if the bio father comes forward.

Next since the mother and father are both on the birth certificate both have equal rights at this point, so the mother can come anytime she wants and try and take her child. So unless he takes her to court to get physcial custody of the child, then it is a matter that they both have rights to child.

So does he have a legal right now to move anywhere he wants with the child, yes he does.
Can the mother or the bio father come and chase them down in the future and sue for custody, yes they can do that also.

Thank you for your help. My nephew is now working and taking care of his little girl. He decide to wait until the mother gets out to move to Las vegas.