Georgia’s Legal Maze: How Unmarried Fathers Can Claim Their Rights

father’s rights is a huge Topic in the state of Georgia and here’s the reason why fathers do not have rights in Georgia to their children if they’re not married to the mother when the child is born I repeat fathers do not have rights to their children if they’re not married to the mother when the child is born what then you may ask do fathers have to do fathers have to be legitimated in Georgia legitimation is a process by which a father files with the court to be recognized as the parent of a child that means that you have to file a petition with the court to become recognized as the parent or the father of your child signing a birth certificate in Georgia just means that you’re eligible to pay child support for the child that does not mean you will have any parental rights to the child in real life what that means is that you may decide that you want to make some decisions for your child the mother may disagree with it if the mother disagrees with it and you have not been legitimized as a father then the mother’s decision carries the day it’s important for fathers to know their rights in these matters fathers you have rights however you must exercise them and one way you exercise them is by getting your child legitimated if you were not married to the mother at the time the child was born our firm is proud to have done seminars and webinars and lunch and learns about the process of legitimation because we as men need to make sure that we understand how we can be involved in our children’s lives by legitimating your child you make sure that not only you as the father exist but your whole side of the family does not exist until you legitimate a child you and the mother of your child or you and the caregiver of your child may be very very cool with each other until you’re not and in real life what that means is you may pull up to her house one day and think that you’re taking your son or your daughter to the family reunion for the 4th of July and she may say no if she says no and the police are call when the police arrive they’re going to do the following thing they’re going to say sir do you have any paperwork and if you say no then they’re going to say sir please leave the premises at that point you have to leave if you decide to stay there you can get a criminal trespass citation so legitimation is incredibly important not only for you but for your parents your brothers your sisters your aunts your uncles to all be a part of your child’s life if you have a child who’s about to be born and you’re not married to the mother as a father you have to go through the legitimation process what does this involve you may ask you have to file a petition with the court in the county where you or the child is or the mother of the child or the caregiver of the child is and ask the court to award you your parental rights that will be done by serving them with the complaint them responding to the complaint and you having a hearing to establish your rights to the child when filing for legitimation the courts will look at the conduct between the parties and the conduct of the father toward the child or the mother to make a determination as to whether the father has lost his opportunity interest or has not lost his opportunity interest and that’s a very technical term but basically it means whether or not the father is fit to be recognized as the father of the child by a court of law if the father is not fit the court will not award legitimation to the father to be recognized as the father of the child reasons why you wouldn’t be fit is if there’s a history of domestic violence between the parties or if the father has not been around the child for most of the child’s life and so the child has developed a support system which does not include the father if the father has been involved in a bunch of criminal activity and so the father being around the child would cause the child to be exposed to that criminal activity if the father has been a habitual drug user and has used drugs to such an extent that it would be dangerous for the child to be around the father all of those are factors that the court would look at to determine whether or not the father has lost his opportunity interest to legitimate the child I’m proud that this firm has many fathers who have helped fathers just like you go through the legit process if you want to get rights established to your child or children give us a call we’re here to help we’re fathers we understand