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Preparing for single parenthood

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kmixon7

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

I am a 22 year old single mother-to-be in 4 months. I work part time and am a full time student. The father of my child was legally divorced January of this year and we got together in May. Things progressed quickly and we were planning a wedding in early October. Anyway, he left me a week before the wedding, but says that he still wants to provide for this child.

He is now back with his ex-wife. They have a 3 year old daughter of their own. Needless to say, bad timing is one of my flaws.

Therefore, I am looking for advice on when to start pursuing the legal issues of child support and custody. Obviously, I know the paternity must be established at birth to get started, but I would like to be as prepared before-hand as I can be. What should he and I discuss in preparation?

He and his ex are not remarried, so he is still paying child support for his other child. What does this mean in terms of my child getting child support? Will my child get less ,the same, or is it all circumstantial?

He and his ex have joint custody of their child, and he gets her every weekend. Would we negotiate scheduled times or is that decided for us? and to have Joint custody between he and I for our son, what is the criteria? Also, I want responsibilites as the CP, how is this decided upon?

I know I have a lot a questions, and there are many more where this came from. Thanks for your time and advice.
 
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TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
"WHAT IS A "LEGITIMATION"?

Legitimation is a legal action which is the only way, other than by marrying the mother of a child, that the biological father of a child born in the State of Georgia may establish legal rights to his child.

WHO MAY FILE FOR LEGITIMATION?

Only the biological father of a child may file a petition seeking to legitimate his child.

WHAT IS THE LEGAL EFFECT OF A LEGITIMATION?

An order of legitimation creates a father and child relationship legally between the petitioner and his child. An order of legitimation establishes that the child may inherit from his legal father and vice versa. An order of legitimation allows the legal father to be listed on the child's birth certificate as such. An order of legitimation is the only way that the father of a child born out of wedlock can be recognized as the legal father of a child and therefore can petition for custody and/or visitation with this child.

If you are already listed on the child's birth certificate as the father, but you and the child's mother were not married to each other, you must still file a petition with the court to legitimate your child.

Effective July 1, 2005, requests for custody and/or visitation may be included in your petition for legitimation."
Georgia Legitimation | The Law Firm of Cynthia L. Patton PC

"The Georgia Department of Human Resources, Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) helps children by enforcing parental responsibility to pay financial support.

All Georgia families have access to OCSS services, which include assistance with locating non-custodial parents, confirming paternity, establishing and enforcing child support and medical support orders, and collecting and distributing payments. OCSS also provides the Georgia Fatherhood Services Network and the Access and Visitation Program, both devoted to increasing non-custodial parent involvement in a child’s life."
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kmixon7

Junior Member
Thank you so much. I need to let him know that there will be other legal issues to tend to being that we are unwed, than what he had before with his divorce. He must legitamize our child in order to be deemed legally the father. I will def. check out the OCSS site for more advice! Thanks again
 

nextwife

Senior Member
The CS will be calculated AFTER his other CS obligations are deducted. He has MORE experience parenting a child than you do, expect him to be prepared to file for a regular visitation schedule including overnights.

One other thing: you can run an online CS calculator to get an idea of what the CS should be. Georgia uses an income shares model, so BOTH parents are expected to support the child. Therefore, expect to be imputed a full time income when your CS is calculated.
 
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