If you are an unmarried father and would like to have legal custody of your child for whatever reasons, you’ll need paternity proof before filing a custody suit in a family court. Suppose the court determines the mother of the child unfit to execute parental responsibilities. In that case, it will rule the case in the best interests of the child, and you may stand to be awarded primary or even sole custody. Forcefully taking your child from the mother without following due process may institute legal action against you. By extension, the mother has a right to involve the police, the sheriff or file a case on the matter.
A child’s custody determination depends on three factors; whether the parents are married, divorced, or not married and were never married. For married couples, laws on child custody Arizona state that parents have joint custody over their child(ren) unless or until a family court awards custody after one of them files a custody suit. If the parents are divorced, then the parent declared on the court order as having legal custody rights gets to have the child. For parents who have never been married and there is not yet a court order for custody, the child’s mother retains automatic legal custody until a family court rules otherwise.
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