Assume the following facts: Pregnant woman is unmarried.  During the
pregnancy, her relationship with the father ends and the woman
relocates several states away (moving from State A, where the child
was conceived and where she had been a resident for several years, to
State B where she establishes her new domicile). Primary reason for
move is seeking additional family support--not to frustrate the
father's right to visitation. The paternity is undisputed, therefore
presume that the father will have the same legal rights to child
custody as the woman when it is born (as if he and the woman had been
married and divorced). Question: If the child is born in State B,
which state's law will govern the child custody dispute or
arrangement? Will State B, where the baby is born, be the presumptive
"home" of the child?   What legal basis will the  father have for
challenging the relocation of the mother and compel the return of the
child to state A (assume that the mother and father are more or less
equally financially and emotionally capable of raising the child in a
positive environment)? What impact, if any, does  relocating to State
B prior to the child's birth (versus relocating after the child's
birth) on the mother's ability to prevail?

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Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 06 Nov 2005 11:25 PST

Custody laws vary from state to state. What specific states are you asking about?

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Clarification of Question by tyrone44-ga on 07 Nov 2005 16:20 PST

State A: New Jersey
State B: Texas

The state of conception has no legal bearing on the child or mother.
Think about a child conceived in another country but born in the U.S.
The state where the child is born is the legal state.  The father has
no legal authority on the mother moving.

I am afraid that Flossyb-ga is right.  And from other related
questions, it seems that the mother does not have to name the father
on the birth certificate, thereby  denying him any rights.  For your
sake, I hope this is not the case, but you don't have much influence
on it  - and maybe the "additional family support" will have some.
This is no legal or professional advise, see the disclaimer below.
Sorry that I can't provide a more supportive comment.
Myoarin

The area of law that you may wish to review is the "Parental
Kidnapping Prevention Act" (PKPA) and the "Uniform Child Custody
Jurisdiction Act" (UCCJA) which applies in most states (at least in
some version) or, in Texas, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and
Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). The PKPA is a federal law. You can read the
entire text at:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode28/usc_sec_28_00001738---A000-.html

Of particular interest:

(4) ?home State? means the State in which, immediately preceding the
time involved, the child lived with his parents, a parent, or a person
acting as parent, for at least six consecutive months, and in the case
of a child less than six months old, the State in which the child
lived from birth with any of such persons. Periods of temporary
absence of any of such persons are counted as part of the six-month or
other period;

As you can see, the federal law defines the home state for a child
less than 6 months of age as the state where the child lived from
birth (in this case Texas).

The state laws are generally modelled on the PKPA. The Texas statute
can be viewed at:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/statutes/pdfframe.cmd?filepath=/statutes/docs/FA/content/pdf/fa.005.00.000152.00.pdf&title=FAMILY%20CODE%20-%20CHAPTER%20152

A reading of that statute shows that similar language is used for the
definition of home state (e.g., that Texas law defines the home state
based on where the child lived after birth).

The New Jersey statute likewise basis the home state definition from
the birth (not conception) of the child. You can view the statute at:
http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/om_isapi.dll?clientID=28259838&Depth=2&depth=2&expandheadings=on&headingswithhits=on&hitsperheading=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&record={7DB}&softpage=Doc_Frame_PG42

Nancy