Understanding Child Custody Rights for Married and Unmarried Parents in California

California law distinguishes between married and unmarried couples and unmarried couples when it comes to child custody decisions. This article provides a brief overview of this intricate legal issue.

Who has Custody of a Child Born Outside of Marriage?

When a child is born to an unmarried mother, the mother automatically gains custody. In many cases, the unmarried mother does not need to take any formal legal action in order to establish her custodial rights.

An unmarried father, on the other hand, does NOT automatically have custodial rights to a child in the same way an unmarried birth mother does. Because California law grants legal and physical custody to an unmarried birth mother, this means that the mother has the full authority to exercise physical and legal custody rights over the child. The mother is responsible for the child’s living arrangements, decisions in education, health care, etc. The unmarried father cannot “take the child away” from their birth mother, as an unmarried father does not automatically have custody rights.

Unless and until an unmarried father paternity is legally established, he will not have the same custody rights as the unmarried birth mother. Legally establishing paternity is the first and most important step in an unmarried father’s path to asserting any rights over the child.

California law immediately assumes that married parents of a child are legally the parents of that child. The law recognizes that a woman who gives birth to a child is the child’s biological mother (there are, of course, exceptions to this like surrogacy agreements). An unmarried man, however, will not gain an automatic presumption of parentage and the rights to custody.

If an unmarried man believes he is the biological father of a child, it is important that he immediately take the necessary steps to legally establish paternity to be able to assert custody rights over the child.

Contact Cardwell Steigerwald Young, LLP

Experienced family law attorneys can help you to anticipate issues that may otherwise not come to light until they are suddenly knocking at your door. The experienced San Francisco family law attorneys at Cardwell Steigerwald Young, LLP, can help you analyze your case. Contact our office today to begin speaking with our team.

Source:

law.justia.com/codes/california/code-fam/division-8/part-2/chapter-2/section-3040/#:~:text=Section%203040.&text=Next-,3040.,3080)%20or%20to%20either%20parent