Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Custody of a child of a single mother

In order for the biological father to have legal rights to parentage he must meet certain legal criterion: 1. He must be married or have been married to the mother (not the case here), 2. He and the mother both must have signed a voluntary declaration of paternity form (does not sound like that is the case here), or 3. The court has entered a judgment of paternity.

There are also some case law exceptions to the above, like he holds the child out to be his own and has developed a father-child relationship.

So, it sounds like he has no right to custody unless he goes to court and gets a judgment. Note that the court can make visitation orders while the parties are awaiting the judgment.

The court probably will not immediately give the father 50% custody; but can allow custody time to increase as the father develops a bond with his child.

Re: Custody of a child of a single mother

If you're not married, then yes you have sole custody. Yes, the father must go to court to establish paternity before he's entitied to shared custody and visitation. You also have to establish paternity before charging the father with child support.