Re: Who has rights/guardianship when a child is born?

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Parents don't have "guardship" over their own children.
Natural (or adoptive) parents are presumed by law to have
care, custody and control of their own children until a
court with jurisdiction orders otherwise.

If the parents are not married when the child is born: If
the alleged biodad has not legally established his paternal
rights to the child under the laws of his state, he has NO
rights whatsoever to the child.

If he signs the birth certificate & your state laws provide
that his signature is rebutabble or irrebutable proof of
paternity, he and biomom each have equal rights to the
child. He can take his child whenever he wants. Same for
biomom.

In some states, his signature is only a presumption of
paternity & another man may step forward & allege he is
boidad & claim paternal rights within the specific time set
forth by the California Family Code.

You can tread out into the legal quagmire of custody and
visitation issues any time you want to after the child is
born.

If you want to know more, just google: Calfifornia + law +
paternity + custody

On 3/22/08, jen wrote:
> When a child is born to a single mother before the courts
> have determined and worked out custody, does the mother
> automatically have guardianship over the child or does the
> father (or both)?
>
> If within this time before things have been worked out in
> a court, could the father of the baby legally take the
> baby without consent of the mother?
>
> Does it make a difference in this matter if he signs the
> birth certificate or not?
>
> When is the time to start establishing custody within the
> courts?
>
> (If it matters what state I'm in, I'm in California.)