What Are the Parental Rights of Unmarried Parents?

Marital status only accounts for a fraction of a court’s regard for a person’s parental rights and responsibilities. Even if you are single, you may have just as many rights to your children as if you were married to their other parent. Discover your legal rights as an unmarried parent so that you can best advocate for yourself and your children.

Custody

Even if you are not married to the children’s other parent, you may still have a right to shared or joint custody to them. You should be given equal access to them as long as you pose no danger to them or your former spouse or partner.

If the other parent is preventing you from seeing or visiting with your children, you may be able to pursue legal action in family court. Before you file a petition and head to court, however, you should retain counsel from a legal professional like a Round Rock Family Law Attorney. Your attorney can build and present your case in a manner that could get you the custody results you want.

Support

As an unmarried parent, you also have the right to child support if the children reside with you most of the time or if you provide for most or all of their daily needs. The amount of support that you are awarded can vary depending on the ages of the children and the type of upkeep or maintenance you provide for them every day.

Every state utilizes a different set of criteria to determine the amount of support to which you may be entitled as an unmarried parent. Your Round Rock Family Law attorney will know the mathematical formula to use before filing your support petition in court.

Unmarried parents in Texas typically have numerous legal rights to their children. Contact the Jackson Law Firm to discover to what rights you are entitled to as an unmarried parent in Texas today.

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