Like, can they figure it out amongst themselves or do they have to go to court?
Is it different for each one? (e.g. you have to go to court for child support but not custody)
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Hopefully someone that needs this will see it. If you are a father and unmarried, you need to establish paternity for your rights as the father to be recognized legally. You don’t need a lawyer to claim your child. Being on the birth certificate is not enough. You can and probably should establish paternity while you are on good terms. The court may ask for a parenting agreement and it will be much better if you can establish that before you might not get along so well. It will also help smooth things over for medical and education needs regardless if you’re together or not. You have rights as a parent and will be supported by the court in exercising and maintaining those rights throughout the whole time your child is a juvenile.
Go to your local juvenile court (same one that does juvenile criminal proceedings) and file a petition to establish paternity. They will want a letter explaining how expenses and care will be handled which will be easy if you get along.
If things don’t go so well between Mom and Dad then kiddo has a plan that was made in good faith and not while there is fighting going on.
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