Legal Question in Family Law in California

I am not sure that paternity has been established, but that needs to be settled first. If you are ordered to pay support, you should be able to have visitation. You have to request that the court make a visitation order. Often the judge that hears support cases will not hear a visitation case - they send it to another department. You may need to file a custody and visitation OSC.

As far as trying not to cause a scene, that will depend on mom's behavior. To stand on my soapbox for just a second, I think it is highly unfair to have a government entity represent the child's interest in being supported, yet a child's very real need for BOTH parents to be in their life is left solely to the parent left out to fight for it. Cops and judges are not very effective if a parent makes up their mind that they are not going to allow a child to see the other parent, especially if the child is older. The best you can do is call the police to enforce a court order, once you have one, and see if they will help you. Often they do not. I have had cases where mom (usually mom, I really hate to say) has put the child up to making some really horrific and false statements. Dad then doesn't see the child for months until the situation is sorted out, or worse, dad goes to jail. Only after it is too late do they find that the allegations were false or very grossly exaggerated to make something innocent into something else. I have represented several fathers whom have been a victim of this. It goes unpunished most of the time, and I think this is just wrong. It is putting your own needs above the child, and dare I say, it is child abuse. The child put up to making the statements has to deal with a lifetime of guilt when they realize what has happened, and forever changes their relationship with the once-accused parent. Hopefully at some point people who make a mockery of the system like this will be punished appropriately. It has created another hurdle for women who are truly abused and are trying to protect their children from REAL danger. As a woman who was a victim of abuse, I am infuriated by women who would resort to this type of tactic solely to gain an advantage in court. Hopefully you will not find yourself in such a situation.

Ok, I am off the soapbox. By law, and I think responsibility as a parent, your child is entitled to support from both parents. If you cannot go to school and support your child, your child comes first. You may have to wait on school. Kids do not stop eating, needing a place to live, or growing out of their clothes because you have decided to go back to school. You may find that once you start paying support, mom will be more agreeable to visitation. By law, they are separate, but my advice is to try your best to get along with the mother of your child.