Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
my gf is an illegal resident of the country she has a child with an american citizen ex-marine served in Iraq. She is afraid he can take the child away, things are very complicated the father is her sisters husband and the sister has told she needs to give the child to them. We are worried that they are planning to take her son what can we do to protect her and her son what rights does she have as an illegal alien. She is very scared he even took the childs papers to scare her. Please help he is not listed on any documents as the father the child as the last name of his mom not the dad
1 Answer from Attorneys
For now, he can't do anything until he becomes an acknowledged father or an adjudicated father. In the mean time, she can do whatever she wants, including moving back to her home country with the child.
Eventually, if he wants the child, he will file a Petition for the Determination of Paternity. The court will order genetic testing, and he will become the adjudicated father of the child. If she is the primary caregiver of the child, she may end up as the joint managing conservator with the exclusie right to designate the primary residence of the child. In that case, he would have to pay child support to her.
However, as an undocumented person, she is susceptible to him saying that she presents a high risk of international child abduction and if he makes that case, he could end up as primary and her visitation might be sueprvised.
She needs a good family law attorney. If she represents herself, she is 90% likely to lose her child.
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