Wyoming Child Custody Laws for Unmarried Parents

In Wyoming, child custody laws for unmarried parents provide that initially, the mother is automatically given primary custody of the child. This means she has the sole authority to make the decisions regarding her child’s welfare. Also, the child would live full-time with the mother. Even if an unmarried father’s name is entered on the child’s birth certificate, the unmarried mother would initially be granted custody.

Child custody generally is a parent’s legal responsibility to take care of and exert control over their child until the child reaches the age of 18. Legal custody is the right to make important decisions about a child’s upbringing, such as decisions about education, medical care, and religion. Physical custody refers to where the child lives and which parent is primarily responsible for the care and supervision of the child.

In Wyoming, a court’s custody order can include any combination of joint, shared, or sole custody depending on what the judge who issues the order believes is in the child’s best interests.

As part of a custody order, the judge can order visitation as well. When drafting an order that grants visitation, the judge is supposed to include enough detail so that both parents clearly understand the order and can follow it. The order should also clarify which parent will have to pay the costs of transporting the child to and from the visits.

Can an Unmarried Father Take a Child from the Mother?

The courts have the authority to give custody to either parent, but the unmarried father of a child may only gain custody by going to court. In Wyoming, as in most other states, to gain custody, an unmarried father would have to prove that it would serve the best interests of the child for the father to have custody and not the mother. Another option is for the mother to have sole custody and the father to have visitation.

Single fathers are generally not granted primary physical custody of children when the mother is deemed a good parent. However, the father may be able to set up a legally binding shared custody arrangement or, again, a visitation schedule. A local Wyoming attorney would be able to provide additional information.

In Wyoming, courts determine custody on the basis of what is in a child’s best interests. Wyoming courts do not award custody to one parent over the other solely on the basis of gender. If paternity of a father has already been established, the father may file a lawsuit to get a court order that establishes custody as well as visitation and child support.

In custody or protection order cases, a court can make custody decisions only if the child has lived in Wyoming for 6 months or if it has emergency jurisdiction.

The mother of a child would have to have neglected or abandoned the child or have engaged in physical abuse to lose custody of the child. Even if a father is unlikely to win physical custody, he may be able to maintain some parental rights. The courts may still grant visitation or other such rights even after granting custody to a non-parent.

A person may also ask a court for a temporary order that gives them custody until a final order is entered in their case. A parent may be afraid of the other parent because of physical abuse or threats of physical abuse against them or their child. If this is the case, they may go to court to ask for temporary custody as part of a domestic violence protection order. A legal consultation with a Wyoming attorney would be able to help a person get a protection order.

Still, an unmarried father may certainly petition a court for custody. However, to gain custody, whether sole or shared, a better approach for a father who is not married to his child’s mother might be to negotiate a parenting plan with the child’s mother.

What Will Likely Happen if There Is a Custody Battle Between Unmarried Parents?

Again, Wyoming law requires that courts make child custody decisions on the basis of the child’s best interests standard. This same standard also applies in cases in which the parents are not married to each other.

A Wyoming court evaluates each parent’s fitness to parent. A court may deny custody to a parent that the court believes to be unfit or even to a parent who is fit if it thinks that would serve the best interests of the child. The courts look at several factors, including the following:

• The quality of the relationship of each parent with the child;
• The ability of each parent to care properly for the child, including arranging for childcare if needed;
• Each parent’s apparent fitness and competence to parent;
• The willingness of each parent to assume the responsibilities of parenting, including:
  • Providing care for the child at certain specified times;
  • Allowing the other parent to care for the child at other times;
  • Maintaining and improving the relationship between the parents and their child;
• The quality of interaction and communication between the parents and between each parent and the child;
• The willingness of each parent to allow the other to care for the child without interference;
• The distance between the parents’ residences;
• The current physical and mental ability of each parent to care for the child;
• Whether either parent has a history of domestic violence or child abuse;
• Any other information that a judge believes affects the child’s best interest.

When deciding custody, the judge is required to weigh any evidence of domestic violence or child abuse that one of the parents can produce. The judge is supposed to determine that abuse goes against a child’s best interests. Visitation must be designed to protect the parents and their child from harm.

Depending on the facts of the situation, a judge may give an abusive parent visitation, give the abusive parent supervised visitation only, or deny the abusive parent visitation altogether.

What Are Some Other Issues That Unmarried Parents May Experience?

If the unmarried mother were to abandon their child or neglect or abuse the child, then she might lose primary custody to the father. Again, however, this assumes that the unmarried father has established his paternity in a legally acceptable way. If his name is on the birth certificate, that would be sufficient.

Unmarried parents also have the same right as married parents to work out their own parenting arrangements. Any agreement between the parents should be put in writing, and the parents should state how they plan to manage legal and physical custody of their child, visitation, and all the other legal issues involved in the care of their child.

A good parenting plan would include a process for the parents to use if they decide to share legal custody and make decisions collaboratively. With respect to legal custody, the plan might provide that one parent or the other would have the final say regarding decisions if the parents are not able to agree. It might also include a process for modifying the arrangement if necessary, e.g., if one parent wants to move out of the state.

Of course, a complete parenting plan would also need to include an agreement about child support and how the parents would pay all of the costs associated with child-rearing. It would also state how the plan regarding finances might be changed.

A legal consultation with a Wyoming attorney would be able to help an unmarried couple negotiate a parenting plan. Mediation might also help unmarried parents come up with a plan that works best for them.

The main goal is for the parents to agree on all the terms of any agreement. They would then submit their plan to a court. The court would review the plan. If the court believes that the best interests of the child are served by the plan, it will incorporate the plan into a court order. The court would then enforce the order if one of the parents were to violate it in any respect.

Do I Need an Attorney for My Child Custody and Unmarried Parents Issue?

If you are the parent of a child and you are not married to the child’s other parent, you want to consult an experienced Wyoming child custody lawyer.

LegalMatch.com can connect you to a Wyoming lawyer who will be able to protect your rights and help you get the parenting plan that works best for you and your child.