| almostheaven |
| (Carpal \'Tunnel) |
| 06/06/07 08:59 PM |
|
Re: Sister - not married, but has a baby - 6 months
|
They weren't married
They don't live together
They have only a verbal agreement
Its been 6 months
She should just relax. Its very difficult for a father to get custody away from a mother if they were never married or lived together, especially when its now months into it. The court will consider the baby has bonded with mom. Of course, dad's been seeing the baby and there's a bond there as well. But the truth is, he's likely to only receive visitation. This will be a set visitation and not an "as you want, when you can" type situation. He'll either get the baby on his visitation time, or he won't. He may BE working, but what about mom? Doesn't she have to work to support her family as well? So what does SHE do when she's working? Likely she gets a sitter. Dad's no better. If he wants time with the child, he's gotta take the time, whether he can personally be there the full time or not. So, he may be at work 8 hours, but what about the other 16? Parents go through it all the time. But because of the circumstances here, he's likely going to get court ordered visits. He MAY be able to get joint custody. But AGAIN...it will be on the COURT'S schedule, not HIS.
As it stands right now, verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. Tell her that until there IS a court order, to stop letting him push his weight around. She needs to put her foot down and tell him that the baby needs a schedule...SHE needs a schedule. This will no longer be at his sole whim. He needs to let her know in plenty of time and not be changing too frequently. Without a court order, there is NOTHING he can do if she refuses to jump when he says to. SHE is considered THE parent...until a court order says otherwise.