Hi. Looking for some advice.
My BF has a child with his ExW. He left the marriage when she was a few months pregnant for lots of reasons. They were quite young and it was on very bad terms, extending to both of their families an the relationship disintegrated. He moved back closer to his family as the insular village they lived in became an orchestrated hate campaign by the sounds of it.
He wanted to have a relationship with said child but she made this very difficult. She did not tell him when the child was born.
He tells me he really tried for contact but there was constant 'goal post moving', cancelling at short notice, refusal to rearrange/flaky contact, being 'busy' all the time, changing times at short notice in spite of the distance.(She started a new relationship prior to the birth and I think this fuelled her desire to make her then husbands contact difficult as she had 'dream family' ideas). He didn't have the money to take things further legally at the time, and I think it was draining for both of them as it sounds like they were both in bad places. Contact attempts stopped. Child maintenance was always paid.
Because of this BF doesn't think he's on the birth certificate. He never signed anything, baby doesn't have his family name, but they were married at the time of the birth. I understand he will be assumed to be the father but how can this not be formalised? They've since divorced. Can her new partner have PR without my BF consent (especially as if BF isn't on the BC?)
Anybody been through anything similar? He's restarted contact which isn't currently being objected to but if things turn sour again he may need a legal fallback.
I'm just curious, I don't know if he's looking for formalise anything yet especially if things remain as so. I think if she left him off the BC in the first place she wouldn't want him added, and it might be another fight down the line BF for some reason wanted PR. I'm just a worrier and quite practical. I'd like to know where he stands as things progress for my own piece of mind, though I stay out of it. He's done some research on PR to know what his rights were before he initiated contact, and it's kind of difficult because he's in a bit of a grey area but luckily contact is going better now they're both in better more stable happier places. The relationship is still being defined by all as it's a big change but if he does start to look into the legal side at some point I'd like to help him understand where he stands if he wants my help.
Thanks, sorry it got so long!