Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon
Father rights with no paternity/or on birth certificate
I had been cohabitating with my boyfriend for two years. We are unmarried with a 1 year old boy. He never put his name on the birth certificate & my son does not have his last name. In addition, he has not wanted a paternity test. I have now left because he was getting verbally & physically abusive. I have a restraining order on him. He has made threats about getting custody of my son, & prove I am an unfit mother. There has not been any court orders for paternity at this time. I would like to move to another state where my mother is located & for my saftey. I would like to know where I stand with my legal rights with this situation! Thanks
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Father rights with no paternity/or on birth certificate
The biological father of your child has no legal rights (and no legal responsibilities) until and unless his "legal" paternity of the child has been established through a legal proceeding (or by the two of you jointly signing and filing a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form with Vital Records). Until that happens, in the eyes of the law, your child has only one parent: YOU. As such, you may take your child and move to another state, or whatever else you want to do.
You are in total control. You are not infringing on the biological father's "rights" since he has no rights (at least not until and unless his "legal" paternity of the child has been established. And from what you are saying, that has not yet happened.
So pack-up, take your child, and go to a safer place.
LAWRENCE D. GORIN
http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html
Law Offices of L.D. Gorin
521 S.W. Clay St., Suite 205
Portland, Oregon 97201
Telephone: 503.224.8884
Fax: 503.226.1321
E-mail: [email protected]
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