Ready To Accept Paternity For A Child In California When You Aren't Married? Consider This First
Unless there's a reason to remove the child from the mother's custody, like drugs found in the infant's system at birth, the unwed mother of a newborn automatically gains custody rights over her child under California law. The unwed father, however, is in a different set of circumstances. If you're about to become an unwed father in California, this is what you should know about your choices regarding paternity.
How can you establish your paternity?
If you and the baby's mother both agree that you are the father, without question, you can both sign an Acknowledgement of Paternity right at the hospital. She asserts that she knows you are the father, and you assert your acceptance of the same.
However, you need to understand that once you sign that piece of paper, you only have 60 days to file Rescission documents if you later start to doubt the baby's actual paternity. Once that time limit has passed, you will have a very difficult (if not impossible) time changing it, even if you eventually get conclusive DNA proof that the child isn't yours.
If the mother won't agree that you're the father, but you believe that you are, you can appeal to the court or the local child support agency to ask for testing to be compelled. You do not have to be paying support or receiving benefits of any kind to ask for this.
What are the benefits of establishing paternity?
Without legal paternity, you have no right to visitation, even if you are 100% certain that you are the baby's father. You also have no legal standing to file a request for either of those things in court, so the mother can refuse to allow you access to the child and even move away with the child without your consent. You also don't have any legal right to custody, if you happen to think that you would be the more fit parent.
You also have no legal standing to stop the mother from giving the child up for adoption if she decides that she doesn't want the responsibility of raising the baby. If the child enters the social service system because the mother is unfit, you have no automatic right to have the child placed with you instead.
What are the potential drawbacks?
You will automatically be required to pay child support once your paternity is established. It's important to remember that child support, visitation, and custody are three different legal things. Child support doesn't guarantee you either visitation or custody rights. You will have to ask the court separately to make a ruling on visitation if you and the mother can't agree to a schedule. You may also have to petition the court for physical or legal custody. Physical custody gives you the right to have the child live with you, at least part time, while legal custody gives you the right to make decisions about that child's welfare, like medical care and schooling.
For more advice on father's rights, speak to an attorney at a law firm like Granowitz, White & Weber Attorneys at Law in your area.