Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
If the mother and father are not married and the mother has been taking care of the child after the two are seperated,does the father have the right to take the child from the mother without her consent?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No. I assume that there has never been a court order that finds the father to be the father.
It depends upon whether paternity has been established. Were you on the birth certificate?
Generally, once you are clearly the father, your rights are identical to the mother's until a court says otherwise.
Even if you have the same right, it would not look good to the court if you just up and took the child. The smart thing to do would be to file in the court a Suite Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship. Then the court can make these decisions based upon the facts of the case. If you are not on the birth certificate then a paternity suit can be filed at the same time.
The rules about this are fairly intricate and you should get a qualified family law attorney before you do anything.
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