My ex girlfriend a myself have a 2 yr old . We lived in Illinois , and i have been paying child support ever since we found out she was pregnant, never missed a payment, everything was going good till she moves to Georgia. Shes down there a month and i find out shes moved again, shes met these people i have no clue who they are . All i know is that shes only known the person shes living with only a month. My attorney has served her with papers trying to get temp custody and to court order child support. We go to court fri. Do i have a shot or does the mother always win, shouldnt my daughter have some stability? all her grandparents live in illinois. The only person she has is in georgia (her mother), that doesnt work and smokes ciggys and is on the internet all day, please respond

what kind of relationship have you had with your child?

I have had a great relationship with my child. My job limits me to seeing her everyday, i work 60 hrs a week. So i havnt got to spend as much time as i like. I will admit she is good with ashlee except for the smoking around her and on the internet all the time. I want to have more of a relationship with my daughter but how can that happen if shes 13 hrs away? is that possible?

My ex girlfriend a myself have a 2 yr old . We lived in Illinois , and i have been paying child support ever since we found out she was pregnant, never missed a payment, everything was going good till she moves to Georgia. Shes down there a month and i find out shes moved again, shes met these people i have no clue who they are . All i know is that shes only known the person shes living with only a month. My attorney has served her with papers trying to get temp custody and to court order child support. We go to court fri. Do i have a shot or does the mother always win, shouldnt my daughter have some stability? all her grandparents live in illinois. The only person she has is in georgia (her mother), that doesnt work and smokes ciggys and is on the internet all day, please respond

Are you the legal father? I'm assuming you were not married to your daughter's mother, since you refer to her as your ex-girlfriend. Was a motion for paternity ever filed and your legal rights to your daughter established?

You paid child support while your girlfriend was pregnant? How does that work? I think you may be confused about what child support is - no court order, no child support. If you just meant to say you provided financial support during your girlfriend's pregnancy, that is wonderful...but it's a different issue from child support.

If you are not the child's LEGAL father in the eyes of the court, you have to get that taken care of first. Otherwise, you have no rights to your daughter at all.

Please give us some more info...the folks here are happy to help if we can

I had never had test done for paternity , just my signiture on birth cert. She has my last name and there was never a q whether the child is mine. As far as child support im getting it court ordered tom. So basically your saying im not going to have any rights till i get a dna test to determine paternity?

Actually, you are fortunate - as of August 9, 1996, Illinois recognizes the person listed on the birth certificate as the child's father, and this does establish legal paternity. This is because in August 1996, the Illinois law was changed so that a man may be listed as the father on the child's birth certificate only if one of the following is true:

* He was married to the mother at the time of birth or conception
* He and the mother have signed a "voluntary acknowledgement of parentage"

In Illinois, there is a form called the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (V.A.P.). Do you remember signing such a form when your daughter was born? Since you are listed on her birth certificate, unless the law was broken, you must have. In such cases, sole custody goes automatically to the mother. Also, you should have received court papers compelling you to pay child support within a few months of your daughter's birth - if you didn't ever receive a COURT ORDER for a monthly amount of child support, it is fairly safe to assume that Illinois law wasn't followed properly in your case.

This form is often jokingly called the "Father Forever Form" because it is difficult to challenge its validity in court. After 60 days have passed from the signing and notarizing of the VAP, it is almost impossible to challenge - there are many cases where DNA evidenced proved a man not to be the father of a child, yet the VAP was upheld and support ordered to be continued.

Hopefully everything was handled properly when your daughter was born, and you are the legal father. I'm confused as to why you are filing for child support tomorrow, though - if you are the legal father, you should be paying COURT ORDERED support now. Also, since the mother gains presumed sole custody in a case like yours, you cannot prevent her from moving the child. You should still persue a visitation order, but I don't see how you can compel the child's mother to move back to Illinois legally.

But I would have thought your attorney would have told you this already...

Best of luck to you!

how can reasonable visitation be established with her living in georgia? pleaase respond, thanks

how can reasonable visitation be established with her living in georgia? pleaase respond, thanks
As she is a young child, until she is able to fly on her own, you may need to go there to visit her. Once she is able to fly alone (age 5 on direct, non stop flights) you will praobably have alternate school holidays 3 or 4 day weekends, and extended summer visitation. Since the mother moved, she should (at the least) pay for half of all travel expenses. You should ask to have her pay ALL travel expenses. (assuming you are not awarded physical or residential custody)