Oregon unmarried custody laws?

[deano_spumoni]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I was told that in the state of oregon the mother of the child resulting from an unmarried relationshipis assumed to have SOLE physical custody of the child.

Is this true?

The reason I ask is my ex girlfriend who lives in Oregon has a child with another man, whoms she is no longer together with. Recently we started talking again and she said she wanted to come down to houston texas where I am currently living.

I bought her and her son plane tickets for a two week trip down here and now with only a couple days before her plane is scheduled to depart her ex is saying she cannot go, and cannot take her son with her to texas. He has threatned to file kidnaping charges if she does.

I spoke briefly with a laywer here in houston and she said that there is nothing to worry about and that he cannot file charges against her becaause she has assumed full custody as the primary caretaker in oregon and her boyrriend has no legal rights to the child until he petitions the court for a custody agreement.

I an wanting some other opinions as to what you think the legal ramafacations of this vacation she might have.

Thanks in advance.

Dean

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

I was told that in the state of oregon the mother of the child resulting from an unmarried relationshipis assumed to have SOLE physical custody of the child.

Is this true?

The reason I ask is my ex girlfriend who lives in Oregon has a child with another man, whoms she is no longer together with. Recently we started talking again and she said she wanted to come down to houston texas where I am currently living.

I bought her and her son plane tickets for a two week trip down here and now with only a couple days before her plane is scheduled to depart her ex is saying she cannot go, and cannot take her son with her to texas. He has threatned to file kidnaping charges if she does.

I spoke briefly with a laywer here in houston and she said that there is nothing to worry about and that he cannot file charges against her becaause she has assumed full custody as the primary caretaker in oregon and her boyrriend has no legal rights to the child until he petitions the court for a custody agreement.

I an wanting some other opinions as to what you think the legal ramafacations of this vacation she might have.

Thanks in advance.

Dean

Is he legally Dad? Sign an AOP?

 

[LdiJ]

Is he legally Dad? Sign an AOP?

Doesn't matter in this instance. She has sole custody by default and is free to vacation anywhere she likes with her child within the US, and cannot be charged with kidnapping.

In fact, even if dad had court ordered joint custody, she couldn't be charged with kidnapping for taking her child on a vacation...contempt maybe if she didn't follow the court orders regarding vacation notification, but not kidnapping.

Now...if she doesn't return after the two weeks, then things could get problematic...Dad could rush to court to file to establish paternity/custody/visitation etc, and could quite possibly convince a judge to order her to return the child to OR, and if she didn't at that point, THEN it could be kidnapping.

 

[proud_parent]

Doesn't matter in this instance. She has sole custody by default and is free to vacation anywhere she likes with her child within the US, and cannot be charged with kidnapping.

In fact, even if dad had court ordered joint custody, she couldn't be charged with kidnapping for taking her child on a vacation...contempt maybe if she didn't follow the court orders regarding vacation notification, but not kidnapping.

Now...if she doesn't return after the two weeks, then things could get problematic...Dad could rush to court to file to establish paternity/custody/visitation etc, and could quite possibly convince a judge to order her to return the child to OR, and if she didn't at that point, THEN it could be kidnapping.

The bolded is not necessarily true for the state of Oregon. If an AOP was signed or paternity was established by court proceeding, the parent with whom the child resided at the time the AOP/petition was filed has sole custody by default. The law does not presume that parent must be Mom.

Oregon Statutes - Chapter 109 - Parent and Child Rights and Relationships - Section 109.175 - Determination of legal custody after paternity established.

(1) If paternity of a child born out of wedlock is established pursuant to a petition filed under ORS 109.125 or an order or judgment entered pursuant to ORS 109.124 to 109.230 or ORS 416.400 to 416.465, or if paternity is established by the filing of a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity as provided by ORS 109.070 (1)(e), the parent with physical custody at the time of filing of the petition or the notice under ORS 416.415, or the parent with physical custody at the time of the filing of the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, has sole legal custody until a court specifically orders otherwise. The first time the court determines who should have legal custody, neither parent shall have the burden of proving a change of circumstances. The court shall give primary consideration to the best interests and welfare of the child and shall consider all the standards set out in ORS 107.137.

I do agree that Mom would not be facing kidnapping charges in the scenario OP describes. Worst case (requires that orders for parenting time exist and that this trip out of state would interfere with Dad's exercise of parenting time) would be that Mom would be facing contempt.

 

[Proserpina]

The bolded is not necessarily true for the state of Oregon. If an AOP was signed or paternity was established by court proceeding, the parent with whom the child resided at the time the AOP/petition was filed has sole custody by default. The law does not presume that parent must be Mom.

That's mainly why I asked Oregon is a funny creature at times, and I thought it best to actually establish who had what, where and when. It may have added to or subtracted the number of hoops Dad would perhaps need to go through to exercise his rights.

(fwiw it's only the OP who did mentioned kidnapping - I don't think anyone else did)

 

[proud_parent]

That's mainly why I asked

I figured that's why you asked. 'Cause I was bookmarking the statute while you were posting, and was just waiting for OP to answer yea or nay before posting it.

 

[LdiJ]

The bolded is not necessarily true for the state of Oregon. If an AOP was signed or paternity was established by court proceeding, the parent with whom the child resided at the time the AOP/petition was filed has sole custody by default. The law does not presume that parent must be Mom.




I do agree that Mom would not be facing kidnapping charges in the scenario OP describes. Worst case (requires that orders for parenting time exist and that this trip out of state would interfere with Dad's exercise of parenting time) would be that Mom would be facing contempt.

Thank you for posting the law...however, its pretty obvious that mom is the one with the child in her physical custody in this particular case. So, even if dad signed the AOP at the hospital, the child would have been considered to be in mom's custody there, and would have gone home with mom.

 

[deano_spumoni]

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Sorry for taking so long to respond.... healthcare doesn't allot much time. For personal stuff.

Yes, dad has signed aop and his name is listed on birth cert. According to mom.

I read that law also.... the wording seems a little loose to me tho. I wanted to clarify.

The only reason I am even asking is I just don't want her to get into trouble. She is not moving here.... or even talking about moving here. She just wants to get away for a couple weeks.

Thanks guys for reenforcing what I already thought was the case!

Also I appreciate you proptness on answering my question.... kudos to you guys!

If you think of anything elso I will be lurking around.....

Thanks again,

Dean