Re: unwed mothers rights vs. fathers

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1. No.
2. No. You don't have to put any father's name on the birth
certificate. If a court finds paternity, it can, and usually does,
order the birth certificate amended to put the father's name on. If
the woman puts another man's name on the birth certificate and the
court finds a second man to be the father, the court can order the
birth certificate corrected to comport with its order finding
paternity in the second man.
3. Yes. Getting a court order of child support does not mean your
child will ever collect one red cent of it (ever heard of deadbeat
dads/moms).

Until the alleged biodad either signs a valid acknowledgement of
paternity OR there is a court order establishing paternity, the
alleged biodad has no legal rights or duties to the child. Until
either one of those two things happens, the child is YOURS and the
alleged father has no say so whatsoever in the pregnancy or the
child's life. In other words, he has NO rights until he
affirmatively takes steps to claim his rights or a court establishes
his legal rights.

Paternal rights and custody are separate things. A court may find
paternity and grant no custody whatsoever to the biodad.

Child support and visitation are two separate things. A father who
has established his legal rights to a child usually gets some type
of visitation even though he fails to pay child support. If a court
orders visitation: You have no right to deny visitation even though
he never supports his child.

fwiw: You better get ready now to be a single mom who is the sole
source of support for HER child. If you plan otherwise, you're not
living in the real world.

On 12/28/07, Emily wrote:
> I am 4 months pregnant and I'm curious about the following:
>
> 1. Does the biodad have to be on the birth certificate to legally
> bind him to offer financial support?
>
> 2. Does the biodad automatically receive paternal rights and
custody
> of the child? Is he on the birth certificate no matter what?
>
> 3. Do I have to go to court to require financial support? Its not
> that he won't do it, but in the case that he attempts not to if
> ever, i want to have something to legally bind him, whether it be
> garnishing his wages or not.
>
> Thanks for your help!