Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Child Custody

To answer the question, I would need to know what type of legal status the father has. If he is a legal father then you would have to bring some sort of court action like an adoption, a petition to terminate parental rights, or an OSC for sole legal and physical custody. If he is not the legal father, then he has no rights to custody of the child and you can simply keep the child from him, and may want to obtain a restraining order. Note, however that it is very easy for a person to become the legal parent of a child. All a person has to do is fill out a one page form called a "Voluntary Declaration of Paternity" and file it with the Child Support Services Office. That act alone makes the person a legal parent with all the rights to custody and visitation any other parent would have.