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Single Mother Rights

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natsha

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

I am an unmarried mother. My daughter is almost two and lives with both me and the biological father. Now, as it stands, I want him in her life. We both take care of her and he established paternity in the state of Tennessee. After that, we both moved to Buffalo, NY.

Now, my question is this. I wanted to move to Huntsville Alabama and the father of my child told me that I cant legally take our daughter out of the state without his permission. I need to know all of my legal rights as an unmarried mother. If I wanted to move to Alabama, would he be able to legally stop me or have me arrested for kidnapping?
 


Hisbabygirl77

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

I am an unmarried mother. My daughter is almost two and lives with both me and the biological father. Now, as it stands, I want him in her life. We both take care of her and he established paternity in the state of Tennessee. After that, we both moved to Buffalo, NY.

Now, my question is this. I wanted to move to Huntsville Alabama and the father of my child told me that I cant legally take our daughter out of the state without his permission. I need to know all of my legal rights as an unmarried mother. If I wanted to move to Alabama, would he be able to legally stop me or have me arrested for kidnapping?
I assume there are no custody/visitation orders? Technically you could move with your daughter out of state. It would not be kidnapping, since there is no court orders. You are the only one with custody in the eyes of the law. That being said ,the second you leave the state, he could go down to the court house and file for custody/visitation AND to have the child returned back to the state. You would then either have to give daddy custody, or move back to the state, or prove to the court why it is in your child's best interest to be moved away from the father. Pay close attention. NOT why it is in YOUR best interest but why it is in your CHILDS best interest. Which, is very hard to prove since being near both parents is normally what it is best for the child.
 
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Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

I am an unmarried mother. My daughter is almost two and lives with both me and the biological father. Now, as it stands, I want him in her life. We both take care of her and he established paternity in the state of Tennessee. After that, we both moved to Buffalo, NY.

Now, my question is this. I wanted to move to Huntsville Alabama and the father of my child told me that I cant legally take our daughter out of the state without his permission. I need to know all of my legal rights as an unmarried mother. If I wanted to move to Alabama, would he be able to legally stop me or have me arrested for kidnapping?
Are you living together as a couple?
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

I am an unmarried mother. My daughter is almost two and lives with both me and the biological father. Now, as it stands, I want him in her life. We both take care of her and he established paternity in the state of Tennessee. After that, we both moved to Buffalo, NY.

Now, my question is this. I wanted to move to Huntsville Alabama and the father of my child told me that I cant legally take our daughter out of the state without his permission. I need to know all of my legal rights as an unmarried mother. If I wanted to move to Alabama, would he be able to legally stop me or have me arrested for kidnapping?
He cannot have you arrested for kidnapping. As an unwed mother you are the only legal custodian of the child and you cannot be arrested for kidnapping.

However, if he were to rush to court and file to establish custody, he may be able to legally stop you from moving to AL with the child.

If he goes to court any time within 6 months of you moving to AL (unless you have his agreement, in writing, notarized) he could possibly convince a judge to order you to return to NY with the child.

However....there is a proviso there. How long have you lived in NY? If its less than 6 months, NY would not have jurisdiction of the case.
 

Ronin

Member
New York is a bit tougher on their residency requirements, and I believe that in this case it would take a year to establish residency there and invoke NY jurisdiction over this case.

If a parent has a legal right to relocate their child, and they do so, the other parent going to court to object after the move is going to have a much harder time convincing the court to arbitrarily order the return of the child. Challenging such a move would be even more difficult for a parent who is not established as a legal parent with custody orders in place. Wich would raise questions of why the father waited until after the child left the state to assert his parental rights.

Given the custodial parent was within their legal right to move, and unless there are concerns for the well being of the child, the most reasonable course of action for the court would be to conditionally allow the relocation pending a final determination of the disputed custody matters.
 

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