Do Mothers & Fathers have equal rights in Paternity Cases?
by Stewart D. Jenkins on 08/27/13
Do mothers and fathers have equal rights in Paternity Cases? Yes, but a father’s rights to paternity must be earned.
In California an unwed father does not have any statutory right
to assert rights to custody, visitation, or even to prevent the adoption out of
a child unless he has first established a parental relationship with the child
that gives him (and the child) a constitutional due process and equal
protection right to continue or further develop that relationship between
father and child under the 14th Amendment.
For an unwed father's relationship to “ripen into a
constitutional right” he must prove that he promptly came forward and
demonstrated a full commitment to his parental responsibilities. The mere existence of a biological link does
not merit constitutional protection. The U.S. Constitution only will supersede
California statutes to protect the unwed father’s relationship if that father
has actively developed the parental relationship by actually stepping up to
participate in the rearing of his child and act toward the child as a father.
This rule of law is best stated in a 6-1 California Supreme
Court opinion authored by Justice Stanley Mosk in 1995 entitled Adoption of Michael H., 10 Cal.4th 1043,
1052.
