Custody & Kidnapping

Although I am not an expert in STATE custody laws, and I cannot provide legal advice, I hope I can provide some helpful general information. First, has your boyfriend’s paternity been legally established? This is often done at birth by signing an affidavit of paternity or through a child support order from court or through a paternity or custody/visitation case. If not, then you may want to ask a lawyer whether or not he may legally have rights to your son at this point. If he has established it, you may want to ask a lawyer whether or not he may be considered to have equal parental rights as you – and if so, what may be the most effective way to try to keep your son from him without violating any type of custodial interference laws.

One way that parent who fears for his/her child’s safety may be able to keep the abusive parent away from the child is through a civil restraining order. I don’t know whether or not you fear for your child’s safety or whether or not a restraining order may be possible in your situation. You may want to ask a lawyer for advice if this is something you are thinking about. Here is some information on restraining orders if you want to read about them to decide whether you think you may qualify or not:LINK

If there is no current custody or visitation order, you may want to ask a lawyer whether or not you can just refuse to let the other parent see your son or whether or not that may put you in danger of being accused of custodial interference. However, even if a parent denies the other parent time with the child, the other parent may file for visitation or custody in court. Or if the other parent has equal parenting rights to the child under the law even without a custody order, it may be possible for that parent to pick up the child from school or from another location. Sometimes, to avoid a situation like this, a parent who fears this may happen might decide to file for custody. I do not know if any of these are ideas that you were considering or not — and I cannot tell you what may be possible or not in your situation. You may want to talk to an attorney about all of the possible avenues for you to pursue based on your specific situation. Here is a link for lawyers: LINK and here is more information on custody in case you or the other parent files: LINK. I know you are asking how to keep the father away from your child. Although I cannot speak to your situation, in many states if a father requests custody or visitation, it may be very difficult to get a judge to deny all contact with that parent - you may want to talk to a lawyer about the specifics of your situation to see if this may be possible at all or not.