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Do both parents have custody of the child if both of their names are on the birth certificate?
If the parents are married there is no real determination of 'custody' per se. When married, both parents are generally considered to be legal guardians. Custody is determined by a court, usually in response to a petition for dissolution (divorce) and/or a motion for child support.
My ex-girlfriend is putting our baby up for adoption. I want the baby, but she says she'll never agree to me adopting my child. Is there anything I can do?
You'll need to establish paternity before anything else, if you haven't already done so. You'll then need to contact an attorney to petition for your rights as a father and prevent the adoption.
My ex is withholding info regarding our children. We have temporary orders stating that I am a possessory conservator. She informed school/daycare officials not to release any info to me or my power of attorney. Can she do this?
No, she can't. The exception is if the temporary orders state that you may not have access to these records. The school can get into trouble if they don't provide you the records you're legally allowed to have. For more information on this subject, please see the article on Obtaining School Records.
I am the noncustodial parent and my ex is relocating but in the same city. Do I have the right to know her new address and phone number?
Generally, yes, you have the right to know where your child lives. This may also depend on what, if anything, is written in the parenting plan.
If there is no provision addressing it, she may not have to provide you with this information. She should provide it for legal reasons, but most importantly for the child's safety.
For example, if the child needed emergency medical care and the mother was unavailable (injured or unable to give consent), you could authorize the medical care.
I'm new to all this...where do I start?
If you're just getting started on the SPARC site, we'd suggest doing the following:
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Read the Steps To Protect Yourself page.
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Read the Tips For Getting Started page.
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Get an account on the message boards and start asking questions.
- Use the SPARC Search Engine to find specific information you're interested in on the message boards, or use this link to search the Articles.
After you've done that, come back here and browse the FAQ Center to see if there are any other topics that you'd like to find out more about. If you have questions that aren't answered in the FAQ Center, we encourage you to ask your question on the message boards.
We also suggest you take a look through our articles- almost 500 pages of practical, tips, tools, and techniques that cover numerous divorce and custody issues.
In general, your best source of continuing information will tend to be the message boards. It's a great place to ask questions, get ideas and advice, and to vent some frustration from time to time.