A parent’s rights refer to the legal rights and responsibilities that a parent has in relation to their child. These rights include the right to make decisions about the child’s upbringing, the right to physical custody of the child, and the right to financial support for the child.

When your parental rights are intact and secured, the important decisions pertaining to their education, healthcare, religion, wellbeing, and extracurricular activities, include:

• To protect the best interests of your child
• To educate and guide your children through lesson learning and discipline methods
• To be a significant influence in your child’s life through regular contact and in-person interactions
• To provide love and affection to your children without interference from the other parent
• To be an active decision maker in choosing your child’s medical and dental practitioners, have complete access to medical records, as well as, partake in discussions regarding any other health-related concerns of the child
• To have complete access to your child’s school records and be welcomed at any school-related meeting or event regarding your child
• To partake in parenting decisions and follow your own parenting technique with your child
• To decide where your child will reside
• To decide where your child will attend school and what schooling technique would best suit their needs
• To decide what cultural and religious influences they will be exposed to

If you are an unwed father, you have the same constitutional rights over your child as the unwed mother; however, your paternity needs to be established before your rights are fully protected by law. One of the simplest ways to establish paternity over the child is to have your name on the child’s birth certificate.

If you are an unwed father, you must establish your Paternity/Parentage before you can proceed with custody or visitation orders.