Legal Question in Family Law in California

There is nothing you can do to absolutely assure he will not do anything to interfere with you being with your daughter. Since he is the father, he doesn't need your permission to take her out of the home. You both have equal parental rights. Unless you can demonstrate to the court that he is a threat or danger to her, you are not going to get sole custody. His games of threatening to take her away from you, however, will run in favor of you getting primary custody and he only gets visitation, you can even argue for only supervised visitation until he completes proper parenting classes. Also if there has been any domestic violence it would run in your favor. But ultimately he is going to have time with her, and you should want that for her as long as she is safe. If you want out of the relationship, you should contact a womens shelter organization for help. They can help you find a safe place to stay while you go into court and get orders for custody and visitation. The Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez has a Family Law Facilitator office that can help you with the legal paperwork. They can't give you legal advice, but they can walk you through the process of getting a paternity, custody and support order in place.

You would have to file a petition for paternity, and then have the court issue visitation and custody orders. I suggest you speak to a family law attorney in your area.