Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Serving custody papers
My gf and I have been living together for over a year and we had a baby in Sept. She is now almost 5 months old and our relationship has been pretty rocky. Her parents. along with her other 3 yr old daughter all live in California and this is where most of her family lives. She wants to go back to Cali and take my daughter with her. She's willing to work out visiting on Holidays and summers, but she seems to be going about things wierd. She told me that she filed a petition of custody and that they will be serving me paperwork. I have a couple of fears that she might be doing this with ill intentions. When the baby was born she would not list me on the birth certificate and even now we have the paperwork and she still refuses. Im not sure how that works, but is there something she might be doing to dupe me over? Shes saying she wants to be cordial, but wont get into details as to why she is serving me the paperwork. Is there something I should do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Serving custody papers
Your gf wants a court order for custody to give her the legal right to take the daughter with her when she moves back to CA. You have the right to seek sole or joint custody, and also to court-ordered visitation, but you'll have to acknowledge paternity, and you will be ordered to pay child support. It's unlikely that a judge will take an infant away from her mother and I assume that's not your intention. You could ask the court to require her to stay within a certain geographic area so you could have meaningful contact with your daughter, but the cost of living comes into play then. If you are determined to protect your rights you need to contact an experienced family attorney when you get the court papers.
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