Possible paternity and rights to child in foster care

[Jen12920]

Jurisdiction

New York

My son, age 21, just informed me he may be the father of a little boy who is almost 1. He, along with 5 other men, are going to be tested for paternity. The baby has been removed from his mother's care and is in the foster care system. If he is the baby's father, I told him his father and I will raise him until he can better financially support himself. The mother is only 18, so I'm concerned about the legal ramifications for my son, as he was 19 and she 16 when she got pregnant. They are NOT together. What kind of legal recourse does he face? What are his rights to this baby? And what kind of rights would I have as a grandparent since the baby is in foster care?

 

[army judge]

Take this one step at a time.

If your son isn't the father there is nothing to worry about.

If he is the father, return and we can continue the conversation.

If you've ever watched Maury, some women test 10, 15, even 20 men and fail to identify the baby's daddy.

 

[shrinkmaster]

There are no "Grandparents rights" but as stated find out first if your son is the Father

 

[zddoodah]

What kind of legal recourse does he face?

If you're asking whether he could possibly be prosecuted for statutory rape, it is not statutory rape under New York law for an 19yo to have sex with a 16yo.

What are his rights to this baby?

Until and unless paternity is established, he has none. If he is determined to be the father, he'll have all the rights of any father of a child who isn't married to the mother. Without knowing why the child was removed from the mother's care, it's impossible to predict whether custody will be given to your son. The only thing we can be fairly certain about is that, if your son does not obtain custody, he'll be on the hook for child support for the next 17+ years.

And what kind of rights would I have as a grandparent since the baby is in foster care?

If your son is determined to be the father, you can petition the court for visitation with the child.

 

[leslie82]

My son, age 21, just informed me he may be the father of a little boy who is almost 1. He, along with 5 other men, are going to be tested for paternity. The baby has been removed from his mother's care and is in the foster care system. If he is the baby's father, I told him his father and I will raise him until he can better financially support himself. The mother is only 18, so I'm concerned about the legal ramifications for my son, as he was 19 and she 16 when she got pregnant. They are NOT together. What kind of legal recourse does he face? What are his rights to this baby? And what kind of rights would I have as a grandparent since the baby is in foster care?

First he has to find out if he is the father or not - until then nothing to worry about.

IF he is the biological father, then he has to deal with that by establishing rights. If she was 16 and he was 19 that's legal.

Grandparents rights in New York:

In New York, grandparents have a legal right to request court-ordered visitation when:

• one or both parents die.
• they have a substantial existing relationship with their grandchildren, or.
• the child's parents have interfered with their efforts to establish or maintain a relationship.

As none of those applies to you, you are unlikely to get any court ordered visitation through that. He would have to establish his paternity, he could file for custody and go from there.

If they're testing five guys hell none of them might be the dad or one of them might be.