Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hallo to all dads of this forum,
let me introduce myself first: I'm Paolo, an Italian guy who's been working in the UK for a while.
I'm new to this site, so apologies if I start this thread in the wrong section. The start itself is difficult for me: I am also going to be a dad soon, and I found this out only a few hours ago. I am not even in a relationship with the child's mother though, and to make matters more difficult, she lives in Spain.
She says that I do not need to worry and that she will care about the child herself, but I do not want to hide myself and so I need your advice to know which will be my rights and duties as father of this child, also considering the fact that he/she is going to be born in Spain.
I am pretty confused at the moment, as you may expect. I know answering this post is not an easy task, and I am also going to contact the Children's Legal Centre about it, but please every little anwer will help!
Thank you very much
Regards
P.
Hi Paolo
Man that's a situation and a half dude. Firstly yes you have posted in as good a place as any. Secondly what can you do, well i guess you can only do your best. If your child was being born in the UK i would urgue you to get your name on the birth certificate as father, as in the UK this gives you loads of leagl rights but it might not be the same in spain. I would therefrore urge you to contact the spainish embassy (google it for contact details) and ask them about how their system works. If its the same then getting you name on the birth certificate is the way forward. I would bombard the embassy with questions like
1 As an non-spanish resident how do i go about making sure i am named as the fath?
2 What kind of birth certificate information is asked for in spain once the child is born?
3 What rights do single mums have in spain to withhold the name of the father?
4 Are there groups in spain who can help me?
5 If it came to it what support / free legle aid can i get in spain?
6 My biggest consern is how i go about geting joint parental responsibility for my child how do i achieve this in Spain?
7 In the UK Parental responsibility is a legal term which in everyday terms means the power to make major decisions on behalf of your children. Examples of major decisions could be whether your children receive medical treatment, how they are educated and also which religion they follow. Therefore once the child is born any major decisions regarding the child will have to be made with my consent is this the same in Spain?
8 How does the finacial support system work in Spain, can i pay maintanence and for how long ie till the child is 16, 18, 21?
Hope this helps mate, do keep us updated.
Hi Paolo,
I can only say that my thoughts are with you...
I've done some googling and managed to find this website on father's rights.
It lists contact information specifically for Spain.
http://equality.netfirms.com/dadsreso.html
I have no idea how useful this is, but I hope it helps.
/very best regards
orange
Hallo guys,
thank you very much for your tips, I will collect as much information as possible before the bayb(es) is (are) born.
Yes, that's also part of the party: it could be that they are twins, she is getting bigger than usual and has a twin sister herself.
I am trying to gently restore a good relationship with her before the birth, and I will prepare myself the best I can.
The links you gave me are a good starting point, I will contact as many people as possible, and try to keep it cool.
Thanks again for your kind support, hope I'll be able to help somewhen
Kind regards
P.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.