Mom's Rights

Please respond with serious answers only!

I am 5 months pregnant and I am worried about the father taking my child from me whenever he wants to.

It was brought up to me by a friend that without a custody order naming me sole custodian of my child that her father can take her when ever he chooses for however long he wants and to where ever he wants. Does anyone know if this is true?
Do I have any rights as a single parent in a case like this?

The father would never give me custody and I don't have the money to go through a court battle with him.

The chances of him getting custody of a newborn are virtually nil. When the child is born, if you are concerned, do not allow him any access. If there are no court orders then there is NOTHING he can do except go to court.

What you NEED to do is get legal help to file for custody and for the first 2 years, short supervised visitation. Also child support payments from him.

Serious enough ?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by momtobe:
The father would never give me custody <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Custody is not for him to give. It is for him to fight for in court.. and with a newborn, he has virtually no chance.

Basically what can happen without court ordered custody is this: IF YOU WILLINGLY let the child go with the father, he does not have to bring the child back. Just like you have the authority to deny any visitation until an order is in effect, he would have that same right if the child was allowed to go with him. It doesn't cost that much to file for custody (and visitation stipulations would be included in that petition). I think my attorney told me it would be around $270. I haven't done it yet because I am in a VERY tight money situation right now and the chances of my daughters father ever even comeing to visit her (much less me letting him take her anywhere even for an hour) are slim. As soon as the money starts coming in though, I am definitely getting the $270 to my lawyer to get the paperwork going so that it's done and I don't have to worry about ever fighting for my child. Good luck to you - but nothing can be done until after the child is born. I tried to get everything started before my daughter was born and was told they couldn't do anything for me with her not outside the womb!