Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Child visitations

Also, just to add to Mr. McCoy's answer, the Petition for Determination of Parentage is also a good way to get into court to file the OSC, especially when the parents haven't been married. You can't just file an order to show cause without first opening a case with a petition.

Re: Child visitations

Well...we all know who the mother is because the doctor saw the baby being born. We don't all know who the father is. So you would need to establish paternity by going to court. An ex parte motion or OSC is a device to get emergency issues before the Court in a very fast manner. It is also a gimmick unscrupulous attorneys use to scare clients into spening money on issues that don't exist.

Re: Child visitations

A biological Father and a Legal Father are 2 different things in the eyes of the law. It is common for a child to have a biological father and a legal father. In some rare cases, a child can have 2 or more legal fathers. The problem is that any Jon Doe can just say I am the father of this or that child, so I want the police to enforce custody. Without a court order, the police do not know what to do. They are not in a position to make a determination whether someone is a legal father or not. They will often require a court order in order to enforce custody. There are 2 ways to establish legal parentage: 1. a court order, 2. A voluntary declaration of paternity signed by the mother. If the mother is not willing to sign the Voluntary Declaration of Paternity, you will have to get a court judgment. Ex parte allows you to get visitation while you are waiting for a court hearing to determine whether you are the legal father.