Father’s Rights
Father’s Rights are important to us at Hobson and Hobson. We frequently answer calls from men who have had a child out of wedlock and believe they are the legal father, because they signed the birth certificate.
Unfortunately, that is a common misconception, and if the relationship between the father and the mother becomes difficult, legal problems can soon follow.
Allen* and Tiffany* were in a loving relationship when Emma* was born. They were unmarried but committed to raising Emma together. At the hospital, Allen signed the birth certificate as well as a document provided by the hospital called an Acknowledgement of Legitimation. Some hospitals call these Paternity Acknowledgements.
A Paternity Acknowledgment is used to add a father to a child’s birth record, and it can also be used in furtherance of efforts to legitimate the relationship between the father and the child. This acknowledgment does not establish any right of visitation or custody. However, the form can assist the father to have standing in court regarding visitation and custody issues.
Several years passed, and Allen and Tiffany were living separately but sharing 50-50 custody of Emma. This was not a legal agreement, but one that they had worked out between themselves unofficially in the best interest of the child. The arrangement worked well for over a year until Tiffany’s standard of living changed.
Allen began noticing that when he picked up Emma, she was frequently dirty and was asking for food to take back to her mother’s home. Previously Allen and Tiffany had been dropping off and picking up Emma at a shopping center in between the two homes since it was convenient for both of them. As Allen became concerned with Emma’s living arrangements with her mother, he started offering to pick Emma up at Tiffany’s home. What he saw at each visit began to alarm him. Her house was filthy, there was little food, and what was available was expired or moldy. Allen knew that he was providing enough child support to adequately provide food for the child. He wondered what Tiffany was spending the money on and why she was living in unsanitary conditions.
It was becoming increasingly clear that Tiffany did not have the capability to care for their daughter the way she needed to be cared for, so Allen filed for full custody without a lawyer through the court clerk. That’s when things went downhill very quickly.
As soon as Tiffany learned that Allen had filed for full custody, she denied him all access to Emma. She notified the school that Emma was not to be released to Allen, and she cut off all contact between the two of them for several months.
That’s when Allen reached out to us. Because he had not filed legal documents to legitimize his relationship to Emma as her father, he had no custody or visitation rights. He thought he did because of the paperwork he filled out at the hospital when she was born. The hospital legitimation form and the birth certificate naming Allen as Emma’s father was not useless, however. It laid a foundation for the courts to understand that he and Tiffany agreed that Allen was the biological father at the time of Emma’s birth.
We guided Allen through the process of filing a Petition for Legitimation and when he received the Order of Legitimation from the Cherokee County Court, we were able to get him full custody of Emma. Emma deserves to grow up in a home that is clean, with healthy food to eat, and a relationship with her father who was willing to fight for her.
If you are the father of a child born out of wedlock, know that we will fight alongside you and guide you through the process of legitimation. Don’t try to do this alone, it’s not worth the risk of losing access to your son or daughter during their fleeting childhood years.
*Names and identifying details changed to protect the privacy of all parties
Attorney Sarah Hobson at Hobson and Hobson, P.C. are powerful advocates for those who fight for better futures for those going through divorce and custody law matters.