pre-birth child support

[dsj9783]

i was wondering about something. my baby is due in may. the mother moved back in with her parents, and i live on the east coast. they live on the west coast. i called on christmas to send my greetings and check on my baby, and her dad told me i couldn't call there until i paid child support. i was under the impression that child support was not a requirement until the baby was born. also, as long as i am paying child support i do have visitation rights, correct, or would i want to pursue joint custody, since we're so far apart. any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[nosonew]

First, were you ever married to the mother?  If not, you need to get a paternity test to prove you are the father, then ask the courts to grant you joint legal regarding the child. *And have your name on the birth certificate AND your last name!

Secondly, I am not aware of any cs due before birth.  However, you may/will  be liable for half of all medical regarding obstetric care, as well as half of the costs of the birth/hospital bill (whatever is not covered by insurance).  

And if you want a relationship with this child, I would plan on moving to her area at the time of birth.  Otherwise, your visitation will be limited to short visits, and given the age of the child, you'll be lucky to get any visitation the first 2-3 years.  By that time, the child won't know you!  And you will have to do supervised visits anyway.  

Read everything you can on the archives in this site, and keep asking questions.  Lots of good advice and info here!  Good luck!

[rini]

HELLO

advice for how to pursue this lies with how you want to be a father.

if you want to be hands on with visitation and custody from the earliest possible moment in some states you can arrange to have a dna test and a hearing at the earliest possible moment by starting to look into things now.

an interstate case is one best pursued with an attorney.  check and see if there is a local fathers rights organization that can direct you to a local office of the ncfc to obtain resources in the area the child will be born.

any contact with the parents or perspective mom should be documented.

dna paternity test should be step one.. and you should have a formulated ideal for what type of parenting situation you are pursuing.

keep in mind that a long distance one will be hard to implement in the early stages and you might want to consider relocation closer to where the child is to be more involved..

do not let your emotions get in the way and if possible tape or monitor all contact if possible by state laws ..

DO not sign any consent forms or birth certificate with out a dna paternity test if you do you will essentially sign your life away and i dont care how positive you feel about the paternity of the child there is only one parent that can know for sure that the child is theirs and that is the mom..

rini