questions & answers

Question: My girlfriend is pregnant and our baby will be born in 8 weeks. She broke up with me and moved in with her mother who has legal guardian ship of my girlfriends previous 7 year old child. My girlfriends mom knows her daughter smokes pot all during pregnancy and smokes her pot cap pen with her and i think my girlfriends mom may try and get custody of our baby by getting CPS involved during the birth at the hospital. I’m the unwed biological father of my girlfriends baby and I think it is in the best interest of the child to be in my custody so what should i expect and do?

Answer: You will need to file a paternity action to make sure that you are listed as the child's father.  You can do this on your own by accessing the correct forms on the Arizona Superior Court's website.  Go to www.azcourts.gov, find the self help center and click on the section for paternity.  There you will find the forms and instructions.  You may want to talk to a lawyer to get some advice about the best way to go about the process.  There are 3 programs in Arizona that you can use to get some inexpensive legal advice and guidance.  One is the Modest Means Program.  For a $75.00 fee, the Modest Means Program will arrange a one hour consult with an experienced attorney.  The telephone number is (866) 637-5341. Both the Maricopa County Bar Association and the Pima County Bar Association have lawyer referral services that offer a 30 minute consult with an experienced attorney.  Maricopa County's Lawyer Referral Service offers a 30 minute consultation for a fee of $40.00. The telephone number is (602) 257-4434.  Pima County's Lawyer Referral Service offers a 30 minute consultation for a fee of $35.00.  The telephone number is (520) 623-4625.