Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio

Can new fathers have sole custody

I recently found out the man i thought was my sons father was not my son's father, I then told other man he was the father of my son,I told him he had to go to court so we could change my son's birth certificate,he said he didn't want to.He tried to arrange a agreement to pay $40 a week to me for our son I then told him he can keep his money and let the courts decide what he will pay,he got mad so a few days went by he ask for my son's ss# to set up a account with the bank I said fine gave him the information he then called and said I am filing custody for our son, I would like to know what rights do I have as his mother,Yes I made a mistake but I do not want him to have sole custody he can have visitation rights but not sole custody. I am a very good mother to my son,all I wanted from this man was to let him know he had a son in the world it would not have been fair to my son if I didn't let this man know,so he could be involved with his life,but now he wants to give me hell because I want to go to court,by the way he was married and has two other daughters and he is not trying to get custody of them, he is just upset with me.

Please give me some legal advice as to what I can and can not do.


Asked on 6/10/99, 7:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Schiff Self employed

Re: Can new fathers have sole custody

Well, the good news is that if he is the father it will probably be established (along with a support order) in a court action one way or another. As far as who gets custody, it's a little hard to say. My guess-- you would have the best shot at it, having, I assume, cared for this child. Some of this will depend on how old the child is, how well cared for the child is, your circumstances, his circumstances, etc. I doubt the Court is just going flip a coin, however. And I can tell you from experience that judges do not generally like to disrupt ongoing relationships unless something unusual is going on. Just because the guy files (if he actually does) doesn't mean he gets the kid especially if he is doing it to avoid support payments (which is probably as much if not more of a reason than the fact that he is mad). He may not file at all once he figures out that a support order is the most likely outcome. But, I would consult with a lawyer in any event who is familiar with the procedures involved.

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Answered on 6/28/99, 7:45 pm


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