Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

child custody, ky.

I have a child that is 2 years of age, the father is not on the birth certificate and has not attempted to establish paternity as we were on civil terms....that has gone south and now he is being verbally abusive and showing signs of loss of anger control, blowing up in front of me and the child, what rights does he have to keep me from moving out of state if any, if this situation continues to worsen? I dont want to move her from him, but he has been violent in the past to me prior to her birth and we had to have a EPO and harrasment charges brought against him several years ago...as long as we were together everything was fine. I am not dating anyone, as what most people usually think starts or causes problems when one person moves on...I just have refused to be his companion any longer.... and now he is changing...I just want to know my options if he goes back to being violent and harrassing me and my extended family again.


Asked on 7/29/08, 11:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gregory Napier Troutman & Napier, PLLC

Re: child custody, ky.

In Kentucky, biological parents are "presumed" to have equal custody rights (joint custody). On a practical level, that requires a father to have established that he is the father either by having his name on the birth certificate, acknowledging paternity in court or having a DNA test with the court. At this point in time, you could legally move from the state of Kentucky. He could then file a petition with a Kentucky court to establish paternity and custody. How that would turn out depends on too many factors to predict here.

If you move out of state, most states assume jurisdiction only after you have resided there with the child for a certain number of months - usually 6 months.

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Answered on 7/30/08, 4:56 pm


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