Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: rights of both parents

The father has a definate right to petition the court for a finding of paternity and to ask for custody and visitation of the child. Child support is an issue that is separate and apart from the rights of the child to be with both parents.

Re: rights of both parents

You have asked a lot of questions, and I will try to answer each in turn.

Yes, he can take you to court to be declared the father. If he does, he will have to pay child support. Further, if he does, he can force you to stay relatively local to him so he can exercise visitation. Moving out of state effectively deprives him of visitation.

My question to you is this: why don't you want child support? You may not need it financially now, but someday, your baby will reach college age. You could take the support he should pay, put it in an account in your baby's name, and have it accumulate and collect interest so s/he can have it when s/he goes to college. Think about it.

Re: rights of both parents

You might give some consideration to the rights of the child. It is a generally recognized principle in family court law that the right to child support is The Child's & not something that the parent can waive. Likewise, the child ought to be thought of has having an interest (even if it is a 'future interest') in having the right to inherit from a parent and/or the right to be a beneficiary of any social security benefits as a surviving dependent {and, earlier than that, as a dependent should the father become eligible for social security disability benefits}.

Put otherwise, mothers who proclaim that they are not going to seek child support from the father may be doing the father a "favor", but they are depriving the child of substantial benefits that The Child has A Right to have (not to mention the "right" to have the love and association of a father).

Beyond that: "yes", the father has the right to petition, himself, for a paternity determination, even if you don't name him on the birth certificate (an "event" to which he must consent). Likewise, he has a right to petition for a custody/visitation determination (once paternity is established) and the father has a right to petition the court to prevent you from moving the child away - - but this is a more complex question.

You should be thinking *beyond* the rights of you and the father, and taking into consideration the rights of the child, too.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<