Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Unmarried parental rights

The standard is the same, regardless of marital status: What is in the best interests of the child? Great weight is given to that parent who has been the primary caretaker of the child, especially an infant.

You may wish to file for custody in the Family Court. You may first have to file for a Filiation Order (Paternity). Then file for Child Support. Suggest you first consult with an experienced Family Law attorney.

Re: Unmarried parental rights

The test in New York is always the Best Interest of the child - however - in unmarried cases the chances of him getting custody are slim. He would have to show some extraordinary harm to the child if it stayed with you - Best of Luck.

Re: Unmarried parental rights

You would be acting "in the best interests" of the child if you took advantage of the services available in Family Court to help establish custody, paternity, etc.

If you cannot afford to consult with an attorney, you should act to save yourself grief later on and initiate a petition in Family Court on your own.

The court staff will help you, it is not complicated, you will have an opportunity to ask that an attorney be assigned to represent you

Acting sooner rather than later would be the better course of action.

Filing in Family Court to "establish" these basic issues Need Not Be a mean-spirited contest - - the child's father, too, would likely benefit from having his status and rights formally recognized by the court ... put otherwise, filing such petitions does not mean you have to have make claims of bad things against the father; the two of you could go there, together, and sort this all out without much trouble.

Good luck.

Regards, etc.

JMHayes

>>--> 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. <-<<