What does paternity have to do with my reentry?

There are two reasons why paternity/parentage can be important in reentry:

    Only biological or adoptive parents have legal rights to care to for and making decisions about their child. You may have an informal agreement if you are not the biological parent, but you cannot go to court to ask a judge for (more) custody or visitation. However, if you are not the biological or adoptive parent of the child, you can seek custody or visitation by asking a judge in court to become a guardian or foster parent. For information on how to become a guardian, see PG. 750. For information on how to become a foster parent, see PG. 761.
    If you are the biological or adoptive parent, you may have child support obligations. For more on child support obligations, see PG. 778.

IMPORTANT: If a person is established as a legal parent of a child, that person MUST financially support the child. It is a crime for a legal parent to fail to support his or her child.[2517] A legal parent also has the right to get custody or visitation rights related to the child. For more information on how financial support may occur, please see the section on Child Support section beginning on PG. 778. For more information on custody and visitation, please see the overview on custody and visitation on PG. 732.

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  1. 2517

    Cal. Penal Code § 270. ↑