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Custody rights and child support
Unfortunately the father of my child has shown no interest during my pregnancy and I'm not sure what to do about child support or if I should even put his name on the birth certificate. We've never been married and broke up shortly after I found out I was pregnant. He wanted an abortion while I did not. While child support would be a big help the idea of him having any kind of custody scares me. I'm afraid that he wouldn't be responsible enough to be a good father. Over time I've found out that he's nothing more than a frat boy stuck in a 34 year old body. Has anybody been in this situation or know where I could get some more info?
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Re: Custody rights and child support
I have had some experience with custody/child support/visitiation with the father of my 3yr-old. I have finally had to hire an attorney, which is what I suggest you do. I would start the process of claiming child support. You might as well get money from him, because even if you don't get child support, you can't stop him from seeing the child if he decides that's what he wants. By law he is entitled to visitation, at the very least, unless you can prove a danger to your child (if he has a criminal background, you can prevent him from seeing the child, most likely). But the first thing you are going to want to do, to prevent any muddy waters in the future, is go to court and establish yourself as the sole custodian of your child.
Just find a lawyer that specializes in family law and you will be fine. I wish I had constulted an attorney a long time ago, because it would have saved me a lot of frustration and time in court--oh, and money!
You can do whatever you want regarding putting the father's name on the birth certificate, it doesn't really mean a whole lot, but I wouldn't give the baby his name (you probably aren't planning to anyway). If you would give the baby his name and decide to change it later, you would have to file a petition in the court and have a judge rule on it, and it costs over $100. So there's a hassle you can avoid.
I know you posted this awhile ago, and you're probably getting all the info you need in the single parents board, i just thought i would contribute, because these are things I wish I would have known when I was in a situation similar to yours. Good Luck!