who has custody?

[joy569]

What is the name of your state?nc

I had a baby with a man who was not legally separated nor divorced yet. He came to the hospital and signed the birth certificate and gave our son his last name. We do not live together and I have our son. He doesn't help much if any with the financial support. I have threatened to go to D.S.S and start childsupport proceedures. He says we both have custody of our son, so is this true and what do I need to do to get custody?

 

[djohnson]

You need to file for custody. Right now you are both his legal parents, and as such, he can come take the child just like you can. He has the same rights. However, if the baby is residing with you, he is responsible for support. Just like if he comes tomorrow and takes the child and it resides primarily with him, you would owe. The best thing to do is make everything legal. File for custody and child support.

 

[tigger22472]

Just to clarify.. until there is a court order no-one owes anyone any financial support.

 

[Grace_Adler]

I'm sorry but I always have to clarify this part. LOL He didn't sign the birth certificate. A father whether they are married or not typically do not sign the birth certificate in NC. They always get the mother to sign unless they are unable to. When unmarried, the father can sign an Affadavit of Parentage and have 60 days to revoke it, which is what he signed.

Either way, it does in fact still make them liable for the child legally with certain rights and obligations, which means as djohnson stated, that he is free to take the child just as you are. No one has legal custody until there is a court order in place, signed by a judge and as tigger stated, both of you are free to file for child support.

So, you need to go file for a custody/visitation order right away and child support if you need it.

 

[Jillian483]

I'm sorry but I always have to clarify this part. LOL He didn't sign the birth certificate. A father whether they are married or not typically do not sign the birth certificate in NC. They always get the mother to sign unless they are unable to. When unmarried, the father can sign an Affadavit of Parentage and have 60 days to revoke it, which is what he signed.

Either way, it does in fact still make them liable for the child legally with certain rights and obligations, which means as djohnson stated, that he is free to take the child just as you are. No one has legal custody until there is a court order in place, signed by a judge and as tigger stated, both of you are free to file for child support.

So, you need to go file for a custody/visitation order right away and child support if you need it.

If the mother has is the birth mother (and I am going with Yes here) and the father has not proved yet that he is the father (i.e. through a paternity test) he has no legal rights to the child... this includes support. Otherwize he has rights to the child. I'm not from NC so they might have some law that states that he does but as far as I know he would not. If he has not proved paternity then NO he has NO rights to the child at all. If you want him to financially support the child then you are going to have to prove (through blood) that he is the father

 

[Grace_Adler]

No you are wrong. The father signed an Affadavit of Parentage. That is what that peice of paper means. He acknowledged that he is the legal and biological father by signing that peice of paper and when he signed it, that gave him equal rights to the child as well as obligations legally. No further proof is needed. Him signing that Affadavit means he can file for support, custody and visitation.

Not being a smartass (I'm really not) but would you like me to type up for you what it says?

 

[curiouscat623]

I don't know about NC, but in PA if a father signs the acknowledgement of paternity papers for a child born out of wedlock..even if he's found not to be the father through DNA at a later time, he has the same financial and legal obligation to the child as though he were the bio father. He has 60 days to revoke it after signing, but after that time passes, he's considered the father. DNA or not.

 

[Jillian483]

No you are wrong. The father signed an Affadavit of Parentage. That is what that peice of paper means. He acknowledged that he is the legal and biological father by signing that peice of paper and when he signed it, that gave him equal rights to the child as well as obligations legally. No further proof is needed. Him signing that Affadavit means he can file for support, custody and visitation.

Not being a smartass (I'm really not) but would you like me to type up for you what it says?

Yeah didn't read the Affidavit of Parentage thing. My bad.. sorry . So UHHH yeah he has rights to the child and she should go back to court then for a custody arangement.

 

[Grace_Adler]

LOL Yeah I miss stuff too sometimes. Sometimes I gotta slow down. And if a thread is really long, I'll jump to the end sometimes. LMAO

 

[Jillian483]

LOL Yeah I miss stuff too sometimes. Sometimes I gotta slow down. And if a thread is really long, I'll jump to the end sometimes. LMAO

Yeah sometimes I am not in the mood to read all of the threads and just answer the question based on the post.