Child custody and divorce are complicated enough. But what happens when your marriage is breaking up, but you or your wife is pregnant? Sometimes there are good reasons for putting the divorce on hold until after the child is born, but maybe you feel like you just need to move forward with your life, right now.
Pregnancy and divorce
Can you still file for divorce if you or your wife is pregnant? Yes. In California, you can not file for the simplified form of divorce, known as summary dissolution, but you can file for the typical divorce most people are familiar with. In California, this type of divorce requires a six-month waiting period before the divorce can be finalized. One reason the waiting period was required in the past is because people were concerned that the woman might be pregnant and the child would be born out of wedlock.
Today, of course, society is much more accepting of unmarried parents. However, if a wife is pregnant when the divorce is filed (or gets pregnant while the divorce is still pending), the divorce cannot be finalized until after the child is born. There are a lot of issues to be addressed when a divorcing couple has children, so courts would like to see these issues resolved before the divorce is finalized. Of course, many divorcing couples with children end up returning to court at some point to modify child custody and child support issues.
What happens when the paternity of the child is disputed?
Although the husband is presumed to be the father of a child conceived during the marriage, that’s not necessarily the case. If there is a question of who the father is, a paternity test can be ordered for after the child is born. (Pre-natal tests can be invasive to the mother and harmful for the baby.) A paternity challenge must be brought before the child turns two years old. Otherwise, the child is presumed to be the husband’s, unless he is sterile or impotent.
Custody and your unborn child
While the mother can probably exclude anyone from the delivery room, a father can request parenting time (visitation) to begin as soon as possible. For practical reasons, the father might not be given overnight visitation while the child is very young and still breastfeeding. But the court has a lot of discretion in determining what is appropriate and best for the child under the circumstances.
And of course, with visitation and custody rights come child support obligations. However, the issue of paternity needs to be settled so that the actual father will be legally responsible for paying child support.
Don’t know what to do? Come talk to us
There is no such thing as an easy, straightforward divorce, but some situations are particularly complicated. If you’re facing an unusual divorce or child custody situation, you definitely want to get the best legal counsel available. Come in and talk to an experienced Southern California family law attorney at Kendall Gkikas & Mitchell, LLP. Call 909-482-1422 or email info@parents4children.com to make an appointment today.
