Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Custody

The law on unborn children is a little murky. You will need to file another case and consolodate the two, or file a motion to amend or supplement the Petition with the new info. I would recommend doing this before the child is born, or as soon as possible, as child support is retroactive to the date of filing the summons. It does raise an interesting issue as to how custody would be shared with an unborn child.

Re: Custody

File an amended petition and an order to show cause hearing for support, before the child is born. If the court rejects the amendment, then file a new petition and and order to show cause for support and to consolidate the cases. Whether or not an amendment is proper, most judges will seek substance over form and allow the amendment. A judge is not going to give visitation rights to the father of an unborn child, I don't know if he can by law, but it is certainly stupid. Good Luck, Pat McCrary