Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

legal custody of an infant

my daughter and her boy friend live with us. Yhey are expecting a baby soon. She wants to put the fathers name on the birth certificate. If she does this, and they seperate, will he have a legal right to take the baby and leave if he decided to run off with it? Or will she still be the one to hold maternal rights since they are not married? We want to be fair to the father but also protect our daughter incase they do not work out.

Thank you!


Asked on 9/03/06, 1:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
LAURA TEK LAW OFFICE OF LAURA TEK

Re: legal custody of an infant

There is a statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-2-303, that says custody of a child born out of wedlock is automatically with the mother. However, you must reaslize that in the event your daughter is a bad or abusive mother, the father can always go to court and ask for a change of custody to him. Nothing regarding custody is absolute.

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Answered on 9/04/06, 2:24 pm


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