[Shandalana]

My Name is rachelle ** last name edited out*** I live in spokane Washington. I am a single mother that is on ssi and my three and a half year old is on tanf. My ex boyfriend who had told me and we thought he is the father to my daughter has been out of her life from the time she was born in 2004 and then came back in to our lives in winter of 2005 and then we moved into a place together in April of 2006 and then in 0ctober of 2006 he took off to Texas and we did not here from him ontill now. He is telling me now that I need to get his name off the certificate and that he is not her father. We had testing done in February of 2006 and when the results came to the house he took them from me before I could see them and told me not to worry that he would be here for us no matter what and that no test could say he was or was not her father. But now he is married and with a new baby is telling me to get him off and that she is not his and if I don't he is planing on leaving his new wife and baby and moving back up to spokane and that he will then fight for joint custudy of my daughter. My daughter does not even know him and I fear for what this might have effects on her in the longterm if she is to be with him. My daughter and I have moved on I am now with a great man and he loves us both he treats my daughter like she is one of his kids. He is divorced and has two kid of his own which he love to death. I really need to know what to do and how to protect my daughter from him. She has been with me since the day she was born. On wendesday of this week I order a copy of the test to be sent to me but they won't be to me till sometime in January 2008 and I really need to know where I can go online and get forms to fill out and what my legal rights are asap to protect us. Please help me someone if you can if you need to know more let me know and I will tell you. Thank you

[peggyhill]

Make an appointment to talk to a lawyer. Call local law offices which specialize in family law. Ask if they will give you a free consultation. That means that the lawyer will sit down and talk with you about your situation, give you some advice, and discuss how much it would cost to hire an attorney, and so on. Some law offices take payments, if it comes to that. I doubt very much that any judge would award custody to this guy if the child in question doesn't even know him, as long as there is no major reasons that anyone can say you are an unfit parent. I think talking to a lawyer will help feel better and not be so afraid. They can give you good advice about the custody laws in your state also. Good luck to you!

[Fr_Chuck]

First you can't just take his name off the birth certificate if he is not the father he has to file in court using the DNA tests as proof, so that is his problem, Also you file for custody and child support from him, since his name is on the birth certificate, if he has real proof he is not the father he can show it to the court. My guess he is first stupid and does not know the law at all, since he is asking you to take it off, second he knows he is and does not want to pay child support.

So you need to go to legal aid, if you are limited on money, file for full cusotdy of your child and file for child support.

[robgun]

I don't think there is any court around that would try to take your baby from you to be with a man she has never known, so I don't think you have anything to worry about, as for him you should try to see if you can get a copy of that DNA test to prove if he is or isn't the father of your child and if he is he should have to take care of his responsibilities. On the other hand if he would be willing to fight and get joint custody that should tell you something (that she might indeed be his)