When unmarried parents separate, how does the breakup affect parenting rights and responsibilities?
If both partners are legal parents of the child — either because they are both biological parents, because they have jointly adopted, or because a nonbiological parent has obtained a legally valid second-parent adoption — both parents usually have an equal right to custody of the child. This means that neither parent may deprive the other of physical custody or visitation unless a judge makes an order granting sole custody to one parent. If a court does grant one parent physical custody, the other parent is usually entitled to visitation and is next in line to exercise physical custody rights if the custodial parent becomes unable to care for the child. Of course, the right to be considered a full legal parent of a child can be lost if a parent fails to exercise parental responsibilities. For example, all legal parents have a duty to support their children, whether or not they have physical custody of them. The key is that, if you are not the parent with custody, you must stay involv
