Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Parental Rights

Unless the father is clearly unfit for some reason or other (age, drugs, mental capacity) he has a right to parent his own child or to put the child up for adoption.

Re: Parental Rights

That depends on the status of the Father. Was the father married to the mother or did he cohabit with the mother during the pregnancy? Did he offer to support the mother at all? Did he hold the child out to be his own. If he is not a presumed father( answers to above questions is yes.) then he is only an alleged father and his rights can be terminated fairly easily. or if you are the alleged father you must establish your paternity immediately in order to exercise any rights. Generally a natural parent has priority over other family members in a custody battle. However if he is only an alleged father, ie was not married to the mother then he must establish that he is the parent and make claim to the child immedietly or he will lose his rights.

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Re: Parental Rights

Unless the father has signed documents relinquishing his parental rights, or a court of law has found him an unfit parent, he still has parental rights and can seek custody of his child. Other family members may challenge him based on his not being present during the pregnancy. If they can show that THEY were present and taking care of the mother [especially if the pregnancy was a difficult one (?)], the father may have a challenge in getting custody. How old is the child now? Has he attempted to support the child since the birth? Does he attempt to see the child? The answers to these questions and others will reveal what his chances are for getting custody.

Re: Parental Rights

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information about California Family Law, Tenants'

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and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry; however, I would

say the the biological father would have the initial

advantage. Standard is best interests of the child.

However if bio-dad fails to assert his rights promptly, he

could lose them.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: Parental Rights

I must concur with attorney Kremer. Parenting is a fundamental right of both parents. Parentage is easily and rather inexpensively established by the father through DNA testing. Father does not have absolute control, but is certainly in the drivers seat. If he can provide a home for the child, which is safe and secure, its his child to parent. If he wants to adopt the child to other than a family member, good question, we'll leave that one for a judge, depends on circumstances and the judge.