[chaz13]

Hi my daughter is due to give birth soon and her ex partner (not married) has threatened to take her to court to get 50/50 custody of the baby. He said he'll win & she doesn't have a leg to stand on. While my daughter has agreed for him to have visitation but not until the baby has finished breast feeding or is around 1yr old. He can visit the baby regularly with supervision up until then, but she doesn't want him to take it to his place where there will only be the 2 of them. She's worried if he gets drunk he won't be able to look after the baby properly. He has no kids and doesn't know how involved it can be.If anybody can help us with this it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[JudyKayTee]

This site addresses the question of custody of a child born to an unmarried couple - Australian Child Custody Laws- Know Your Rights!

It says: "The unmarried mother will normally be awarded sole physical custody.

There is normally nothing that the father can do in the early stages except to either come to some sort of an agreement with the mother, that failing he will have to commence legal action to gain custody or be entitled to some form of visitation rights."

She has control of the child until he goes to Court and gets an Order for visitation. Custody and visitation are two different things.

She should be prepared to PROVE he would be a danger to the child in the event he takes her to Court.