father on birth certificate

[kaybay905]

i live in georgia and had a baby in 2008. when my daughter was born i was with the child's father. he is on the birth certificate but we were never married. with him being on the birth certificate does he have any rights to my daughter. he left about 3 weeks ago and went back to flordia and basically abanoned his daughter. the other question that i have is can i change her name without is permission since he is on the birth certicate?

[sunlover]

You can't. He is child's legal Father. Go to court petition for custody and support

[kaybay905]

does he have any rights to her? he abandoned her i don't know where he is.

[sunlover]

He has the same rights as you do as child's legal Father. Which is why I urge you to get court orders! If he files then jurisdiction coud land in his state! Far as abandonment you will need to check your state's laws on how they describe this

Originally Posted by sunlover He has the same rights as you do as child's legal Father. Which is why I urge you to get court orders! If he files then jurisdiction coud land in his state! Far as abandonment you will need to check your state's laws on how they describe this

I'm not sure what Georgia law is, but here in Ohio unwed mothers have full custody until the courts say otherwise. I would be willing to bet that Georgia is the same. So the fact that he is on the birth certificate likely means nothing as far as custody goes. Research your state laws concerning unwed custody, shouldn't be hard to google the information.

[sunlover]

Agreed but this is not her entire answer. He has rights as Father and whether he can win or not he can legally pursue custody, support and, visitation. If he does so in his state then jurisdiction could fall there. She needs to file for custody and support there to keep jurisdiction local. If she does so then she holds cards. If she avoids this because Dad may not she takes risks. She best to take action now and have court orders to fall backon as well as get support! If she seeks State help they will want to seek him out anyways.

[Gbyte]

He has NO rights until a court would give him rights. She CANNOT petition for custody of a child that she already has sole custody of. She can attempt to change the childs name - but will be required to do many things to contact the father before it could be granted without his permission. He could pop back in at anytime, file for and get parenting rights.

[tbyte]

True. As the father of a child born out of wedlock, he has no rights until established by a court of law.
Zilch.
She could probably have the child's name changed without his permission as well, regardless of whether his name is on the birth certificate or not. It continues to amuse me how much importance people mistakenly place on the father's name being on the birth certificate.

[Gbyte]

I'm glad you're "amused".

I am from Ga and have had a simular situation. The father only has rights to say he is the father you would still have to prove he is father either by paternity or if he filed papers in your jurisdiction taking parental responsibility for the child. You have the sole rights to all decisions about your child and all you need to do for a name change is file with your local clercks office stating the last known residecnce for father and run an add in the paper for a few weeks if no one replies to contest the name change then it will be granted. I know from experience my son is now 8. And father still has NO legal grounds for any decisions made with my child, and I never filed for custody. and by gerogia law he woould have to take you t court and prove he wants to be a father before the judge will do anything!!!
Good Luck Mom