Legal Question in Family Law in New York
paternity rights
I am a 20 yr old single mom of a almost 2 year old daugther. Her father has denied her since she was 5 weeks old. I have recieved nothing for her. He is a somewhat violent man and I've had restraining orders on him , but we were both minors then , My daughter was on one of the orders. My question is , If I have paternity established what kind of rights will he have? Will he have unsupervised visits because If there is a high chance I will not risk her life. i am scared what he would do to her. If he would not get unsupervised visits then what are his rights after 2 years?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: paternity rights
Violence against the mother does not
automatically translate into violence against
the child in the eyes of many judges.
If paternity is established, a judge may
decide to permit unsupervised visitation, which
is normally alternate weekends and alternate
holidays
Of course, child support is 17% of the gross
pay minus FICA taxes only. This is a
considerable amount to forego in raising
a child
Re: paternity rights
The paternity rights will be determined in the paternity hearing. Because of the father's history of violence, it is possible to get supervised visitation. I can't tell you that you will get it, because I don't know the whole story, and I don't know the judge who will hear the case.
You should definitely file for child support. Your child will need to go to college someday. Even if you do not need the money now, odds are you will need it then. And, just because there is a child support award, does not mean there will be unsupervised visitation.
Because of the complexity of this situation, and the father's violence, I would suggest you retain an attorney to handle this matter.
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