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I am a paralegal in Washington State, and first of all, a paternity action would have to be started to prove he is the father, unless he admits that he is. Labs will not do paternity testing on children until they are at least six weeks of age, at least the ones that we use don't. Also, you would have to have a really good reason for him to not have any visitation rights, and I can almost guarentee that he will not have to take a drug test everytime before he sees the child. If there is a previous history of drug abuse, he can be ordered by the court to have testing done every two weeks or once a month. He can also be ordered by the court to take a parenting cla__s. With regard to his parents, in Washington, there are no grandparent rights. If you don't want his parents to see the child, then you don't have to. But, I don't know what state you live in. Be wary and cautious of his parents, and always remember that blood is thicker than water. I was in a very similar situation when I was 20 and had my daughter. We lived together and he was a waste of air, totally irresponsible and the whole shebang, but his parents thought that he was the best kid ever and I was the b___h??? Whatever. Just make sure that they know who the boss is, obviously you, you need to make all the decisions and do not back down to them if they try and intimidate you in any way whatsoever. Good luck to you!!

thnks for the info steph, i forgot to add tha the is a drug dealer and user in my hometown. I am currently in california and will give birth here but he is in the Philippines. Do you know if i could still request for monthly drug test and if laws apply there? thank for your response! i'm glad we have this sight so we can help each other out.

hope...is there any reason that you cant get medicaid? I mean if you make less than 1500 a month then Im pretty sure you are ent_tled...furthermore the bill from the hospital when you give birth will run into the thousands. Even if you dont get a chance to find out now...remmeber you can get medicaid bacdated three months so when you do have the baby...then you can at least get the bills paid for the hospital. The last thing you need with a baby is bills.

In many states they now do a swab test and it can be done the minute the baby is born. One month prior to giving birth through an attorney I had a court date scheduled for one week after my due date. We were in court and did a swab DNA that same day of court, my baby was 5 days old. Is the father requesting to see the baby? If not, you can go to court to establish paternity and obtain child support. Unless he or you request it, visition is not always auto. ordered (ck with the court first to verify state to state and county to county jurisdiction laws change). You can however address the concerns you have of a flight risk and drug use. Under no circ_mstances should you allow visition with anyone without a court order. If there is not an order in place and you allow your baby to go with the grandparents or the father and they elect not to return the baby as verbally agreed, the police can not make them return the baby due to no proof of custody. It will become a matter of the court and until then they have the baby. At this time paternity has not been established and he has no legal visitation rights. CA has many resources available and programs call around and ask questions. Start with planned parenthood and your legal a__sistance program. Call family law attorneys and ask questions it is a free call. Asking questions and using your resources is a matter of time not money. Knowledge becomes power.

one more thing - has he ever been to court or convicted of ant drug activity? Regarless of it only required a fine, you can record of the court action or arrest and use that to your advantage. In a bigger county the court system usually has a web site that you can look up civil and criminal court info by name. Evidence is important when protecting your child.

Because you are unmarried, visitation is something that needs to be arranged for seperately from support. So, you can file for child support, (through a state agency, without a lawyer) and the support order will not include visitation, because that is something he will have to file for on his own. I would apply for Medicaid TODAY, which in some states will help you get the whole child support process started. (The state will go after him to help take care of part of the Medicaid costs) Remember that YOU have control over who sees your baby. If you don't want contact with his parents, don't call his family and let them know the baby is here. If you change your mind and decide to let his family be around, then NEVER EVER let them visit with the baby without you around. This will keep the ex from comming over, and just not give the opportunity for anything weird to happen. Filing for child support with a state agency shouldn't cost you anything up front, but it isn't free. Usually what they do is take a percentage out of what money they get for you. It isn't outrageous, like around $300, and so if you were to get monthly payments of like $500, then they would probably take 10% until they got the $300, then there is no fee. It is worth it, because they do the work for you, they have a lawyer, they can set up a court order so that the amount is garnished from his check (which may be a problem if he is a drug dealer and doesn't have a legit job with a paycheck) but, even so, they will set up a legal order for how much he should give you, they will be responsible for collecting that money, and then if he doesn't pay, they can enforce it by threatening to send his a__s to jail. I think you are on the right track, good luck to you.

I would call legal aid they can help you with a lawyer.