Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Custody of child by never-married parents

If everything which you claim is in fact true, you

should be able to maintain physical custody of your son, which the court is likely to find in your son's best interests.

However, if the father is represented by counsel,

you yourself should also have an attorney to ensure that the result referenced above actually turns out to be the case.

Re: Custody of child by never-married parents

No one, of course, can give you a guarantee as to what the outcome of a custody case would be. The judge's decision must be based on the best interest of the child. There are several factors the court uses to determine what the best interest of the chid. One of the factors is the relationship the child has with each parent. From the limited information I received from your post it appears that you may have the stronger history of involvement with the child which strongly works in your favor. However, he MAY argue that once he's married his wife may be a stay at home mom or even if she doesn't stay at home, that the two parent household will be more in the best interest of the child. Yet he has an awful lot of strikes against him, particuarly his economic instability and inability to keep a job! It's difficult for me to predict the outcome of your case without further conversation because I would need answers to many questions. Please feel free to give me a call so we can discuss your case.