Child Custody

On January 1, 1998, the law changed. Now, an unmarried woman who gives birth to a child automatically has legal custody of the child unless a court has given custody to someone else. That is not the case in Kentucky and other states.

If the child’s father files a court action for custody, the new law does not mean the Court will automatically give you custody, even if the child has been living with you. The new law says that the Court must give each parent an equal opportunity to prove that he or she is the better parent to have custody. When deciding custody, the Court will look at who has taken care of the child by doing most of the feeding and bathing, arranging for medical care and education, preparing the child for sleep, and arranging for babysitters, etc. The Court will also look at things like the mental and physical health of the parents, whether either parent has a history of domestic violence, and the child’s relationship with other family members. Unless you have concerns for the health or safety of the child during visitation, we urge you to consider allowing reasonable visitation if the father asks for it. The reason for this is that the Court will also consider which parent is more likely to allow the other parent visitation with the child in the future if it decides custody. One way to prove that you would allow visitation with the father in the future is to allow visitation now, even if a court has not ordered visitation and you are not yet required to allow it. This does not mean you have to go looking for the father. It means that if he is interested in visiting with the child, you should consider setting up a meaningful visitation schedule, which is reasonable and can document any concerns you may have about your child’s health and safety if visitation is allowed. That way the father will not be able to prove that you would deny him visitation in the future. If paternity has not been established, many mothers feel that they have the right to deny visitation. That is true; however, under the new law, the courts may decide that the lack of paternity is not a good enough reason to deny visitation, especially if no one really disagrees about whom the father is. If visitation is unreasonably refused, it may be held against you