Legal Question in Family Law in Alabama

The first thing you need to do is to contact the DHR Office in Montgomery and complete a form for registry. If you register before the child is born, you reserve all of the rights that a parent has. Otherwise, the mother is free to give the child up for adoption without letting you know or to marry and let the husband adopt the child. You must do this to preserve those rights. Otherwise, a day might come in which she comes to you for child support in the arrears and you never knew you had any rights. By filing with the registry, you serve notice that you may be the father, only by a paternity test in the future will that be determined. If you do this, once the child is born you can file a paternity action in domestic relations court and after the paternity test - if you are proven to be the father, have visitation and support will be determined by the court.