I'm so confused...need advice

I'm 17 and 8 months pregnant....I do not want to have anything to do with the dad bacause he is abusive and i do not want to raise my child in that kind of enviroment. My parents have been behind me 100%...helping me in everyway they can...my problem is that the baby's father is threating me that he is going to take my baby from me....I am willing to give him visitation....I'm also confused about how to get child support from him....My baby's father tells me he has lawyers and that we will need to prove that it is his baby and that i will need to pay for the paternity test...He is probably lying about all of this because he is scared i'm gona get all his money from a lawsuit he won from a car wreck he was in a few years ago. Do i need to get a lawyer?...What kind of lawyer do i need?....how do i go about getting one?....My baby deserves child support and and anything else coming to him. My parents are paying all the medical bills for my Dr. and hospital...I heard that my parents should be able to get all this money back from him...is this true...Please help..I'm so confused...!!!

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

You need to calm down. Instead of freaking out like a little kid (remember, you are going to be a mom, so behave like on), take a deep breath and follow my instructions carefully!

1. Go the freeadvice.com. At the home page you will see a whole bunch of legal subjects. Do me a favor, read ALL of FAMILY LAW, especially child custody and child support.

2. Then, you need to get a family law attorney. As to him proving paternity --> if he is the one seeking the test, he is the one who will be paying for it, not you.

3. Get a family law attorney by trying attorneypages.com or contacting your state bar association (call 411 and ask for the state bar). Then ask them for lawyer refferal. Once you find a lawyer, you call back the bar and check the lawyer's record of discipline.

Hope this helps.

Reading the Family Law on freeadvice.com won't help you a whole lot. Try going to the nearest Social Services building. They should be able to point you in the right direction for everything you need, obtaining child support, friend of the court, etc. I was on medicaid when I was pregnant (which it sounds like you are ont and that is wonderful to hear!!). The Family Independence Agency is where I got all my information on filing for child support and getting paternity papers and whatnot. They contacted the Asst. Distict Attorney and the service was free of charge to me. Now the child support of through the Friend of the Court in my state and the Department of Child Support in my daughter's fathers state. As for visitation and custody, you will need to seek a lawyer for that. YOU MUST FILE FOR CUSTODY, to save your ass. If no custody order is in effect after the child is born, the father could take him and you would have to fight for him back. IF there is an order for custody and he refused to give the child back, you could get him for kidnapping. Be safe and file for custody and visitation. BUT, if this man is abusive to you, what makes you think he won't be to the child? Why are you willing to just LET him have visitation if he could be a threat to the child?? Consider this when the custody/visitation paperwork is drawn up, your attorney can include "reasonable visitation" which means if you don't want the child to go, you don't have to let him. Usually though, with young children (under 2) there is no overnight visits as far as I know. There is not a lot you can do before the child is born though, so relax and don't stress yourself out right now. Take care of yourself and the baby - deal with everything else after birth. This is an important time for your baby and you need to be clear headed and free of stress. Believe me, I know, and my daughter was almost born way too early because of the **** I had to put up with from her dad. Relax and good luck.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HuntersMom:
I'm 17 and 8 months pregnant....I do not want to have anything to do with the dad bacause he is abusive and i do not want to raise my child in that kind of enviroment. My parents have been behind me 100%...helping me in everyway they can...my problem is that the baby's father is threating me that he is going to take my baby from me....I am willing to give him visitation....I'm also confused about how to get child support from him....My baby's father tells me he has lawyers and that we will need to prove that it is his baby and that i will need to pay for the paternity test...He is probably lying about all of this because he is scared i'm gona get all his money from a lawsuit he won from a car wreck he was in a few years ago. Do i need to get a lawyer?...What kind of lawyer do i need?....how do i go about getting one?....My baby deserves child support and and anything else coming to him. My parents are paying all the medical bills for my Dr. and hospital...I heard that my parents should be able to get all this money back from him...is this true...Please help..I'm so confused...!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You do not need to worry about him taking the child away. This is a very common threat by people. The chances of him winning custody are nil.

Thanks so much for this great advice...this is more than i ever thought i would get...and i'm gona get busy and do what i got to do tomorrow...Thanks again so much <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by newmom:
Reading the Family Law on freeadvice.com won't help you a whole lot. Try going to the nearest Social Services building. They should be able to point you in the right direction for everything you need, obtaining child support, friend of the court, etc. I was on medicaid when I was pregnant (which it sounds like you are ont and that is wonderful to hear!!). The Family Independence Agency is where I got all my information on filing for child support and getting paternity papers and whatnot. They contacted the Asst. Distict Attorney and the service was free of charge to me. Now the child support of through the Friend of the Court in my state and the Department of Child Support in my daughter's fathers state. As for visitation and custody, you will need to seek a lawyer for that. YOU MUST FILE FOR CUSTODY, to save your ass. If no custody order is in effect after the child is born, the father could take him and you would have to fight for him back. IF there is an order for custody and he refused to give the child back, you could get him for kidnapping. Be safe and file for custody and visitation. BUT, if this man is abusive to you, what makes you think he won't be to the child? Why are you willing to just LET him have visitation if he could be a threat to the child?? Consider this when the custody/visitation paperwork is drawn up, your attorney can include "reasonable visitation" which means if you don't want the child to go, you don't have to let him. Usually though, with young children (under 2) there is no overnight visits as far as I know. There is not a lot you can do before the child is born though, so relax and don't stress yourself out right now. Take care of yourself and the baby - deal with everything else after birth. This is an important time for your baby and you need to be clear headed and free of stress. Believe me, I know, and my daughter was almost born way too early because of the **** I had to put up with from her dad. Relax and good luck.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>