questions & answers

Question: I have a 5 year old son who I've been taking care of with the help of my now husband he has been around for 4 years now, my son calls him dad, his biological dad has been absent all 5 years up until now and has been coming around for about a month a half now and there has been some dis.agreements, what rights does my husband have when it comes to my son

Answer: Unless your ex has relinquished his parental rights and allowed your current husband to adopt the child, your ex is still the legal father.  I say this under the assumption that you and the ex were either married at the time your child was born or your ex signed the birth certificate affidavit admitting paternity and allowing his name to appear on the birth certificate.  If either of those are true, the ex has full paternity rights unless there is a court order saying otherwise.  If your ex did not sign to be on the birth certificate, no paternity action established him as the legal father, and you were not married when your child was born, then the ex has no parental rights until paternity is established.  Your current husband is not the legal father.    See:  State v. Bean, 174 Ariz. App. 544 (1992), where the Arizona Court of Appeals said:  "If a child is born out of wedlock, the mother is the legal custodian of the child . . "