Hi everyone!

My name is Kate. I'm a mother of four beautiful kiddies. My last little one arrived this past October. His father and I split up in May of last year while I was still pregnant. Well, I moved on down here to KY during that time do to better healthcare programs and all that. I will be receiving ssi in the next month as I am unable to work.

Needless to say, things have been difficult to figure out down here. I am accustomed to how Ohio works in the family law area. This is also my first time being an unwed mother. Much more difficult!

Does anyone know where I can find visitation guidelines/standards for ky? I've looked all over and can't find any. The circuit court said for 118 bucks I can file a petition for custody and then either have an attorney write it up or myself. But I don't know what the courts look for in visitation and would like to see.

It's been fun enough arguing with him over childsupport. He claims he can't afford it, but surely he knows 20 bucks and a pack of diapers here and there isn't cutting it. Man's 41 yrs old. Grow up huh?

Anyways,
Thanks in advance!

Kate

Kate- were you married at the time of the birth? If not, did he sign the birth certificate or acknowledement of paternity? If not, then the first step is to establish him as the legal father. The best way to do this is to contact child support enforcement agency and file for an establishment of paternity and child support. He will then be court ordered to take a DNA test (if he is the fahter, he has to pay for it, if not, you do). You will also have to make the child available for the DNA test. A judge will then award child support based on the income shares model that KY uses. It is a standard mathematical equation. He has no choice but to pay what is ordered. It is easier to set it up so that they take it out of his check. You will also need to file for sole custody. He will need to file for visitation if he wants it. (It is not automatically granted) You then can work out a custody agreement. If you can't, each county in KY has their own standard guidelines for visitation. A quick trip to the court clerk will get you a copy.

Thanks for getting back to me.

No we were never married, but he did acknowledge paternity at the hospital and signed the birth certificate with a notary present.

I will definitely go over to the clerk's office tomorrow and see what I can get a copy of. Can I assume that KY law does not presume the mother to have custody if not married? I don't plan on filing for sole custody. There aren't any truly good reasons for that. If he never paid a dime of support, that will ultimately reflect on him negatively in our son's mind. I won't sweat that too much.

Thanks for the info,
Kate

no- u are the legal custodian as you were never married. I was just asking as he can come back and ask for joint custody at any time. I would go ahead and file for sole while you are doing it all