“I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. He has only seen her 6 times her whole life. He is living at a rehab right now . So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. Please help me!!”

In many jurisdictions, a birth mother has presumptive sole custody until an action is filed in the court or some voluntary declaration of paternity is filed. In your case where father is only casually in your daughter’s life it seems unlikely that you would get into trouble for moving to be with your family. Check it out with a local family law attorney before doing anything, though.

I usually advise getting court orders prior to a move. Even though it may take longer, (and you may be able to get a temporary order to allow an immediate move-away) following procedure will help ensure that your daughter is sufficiently supported and that both of her parents stay a part of her life.