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If a child lives with both parents who are unmarried and the father takes the child to live with him, is there legal action that the mother can take against him if custody has not been established?
State/Country relating to Question: Texas Already Tried: Nothing.
The only action the mother can take is to file a Petition for Custody in the court and get the court to issue an order of custody, since both parents absent any court order have legal rights to the child.
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Currently the child resides with both parents, but the father is wanting to separate with the mother. He believes that if he leaves and takes the child, he will get in trouble for it, even though they have not been through a custody hearing. So if he just leaves and takes the child, her only course of action would be to file a Petition for Custody, correct?
Either parent can take the child and the only remedy is a custody action in the family court since there are no orders in place.
Does the parent have to have an attorney to file a Petition of Custody, or is this something the parent can do on their own?
They should, but it is not necessary and can be done on their own.
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JA Mentor -Attorney Labor/employment, corporate, sports law, admiralty/maritime and civil rights law