Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

If you are the natural mother you have legal custody for starters. If you were never married to the father, for him to even have any visitation rights there would have to be a finding of paternity and an order for custody AND child support.... If you were married to him and he abandoned you and your son, then he has some rights, but would be obligated to child support.... It's more complicated than that but I wanted to give you at least some sense of the situation.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.