Can my bf take our baby

[mum241986]

So I'm thinking in ending things with my OH,he lives with me and the house is in my name. I have 4 other child with my ex but one with my current boyfriend. If I finish with him what rights does he have? Can he take my son? He always says when we argue that if we split he's taking our son.

Is his name on the birth certificate? If yes you both have PR. If not only you have PR ( parental responsibility)

I think he would have to take you to court and then have good reason to but I've no experience with this

The most a court would award would be 50-50 custody, and for a baby it would almost certainly be short but frequent visits and no overnights.

Your BF is just trying to bully you. Is he abusive in other ways?

No it’s just a threat to make you stay with him. Is there any risk he could take the child abroad and not return him/her? Does the child have a passport - hide it.
Are you the main carer to the child?
He can have access but maybe try and get some free advise from a solicitor. I assume the dads name is on the birth certificate.
Which country are you in?

There’s no way court would give your OH full custody of your child, particularly if you’re the one with stable accommodation (you say hes living in your house). If it went to court, in almost all cases, as much as possible is done to keep a child with its mother. Youll at least have shared custody. Sounds like he’s just trying to scare you into staying with him.

Yes it's on the birth certificate,I'm the main career,he couldn't cope on his own to be honest. No the baby has no passport. We live in north wales. He's not abusive but is mentally abusive. If he tried I take our son could I ring the police to get him back as if he did leave he'll have no where to go other than his parents house.

Unfortunately the police wouldn’t be able to do much unless the child said they wanted to be with you, then he would be keeping the child against their will.
As you both have parental responsibility there’s not much that can be done until it goes to court. There are orders you can get against him taking the child if your partner is abusive.

He's not abusive but is mentally abusive.

That is abuse, OP. Google "coercive control" - it's a recognised form of domestic abuse. I'd have a word with the local police's domestic violence team (ask to speak to them specifically), and maybe talk to a solicitor about a non-molestation order, so you can get him out of the house safely.

and good luck - and do involve the police. Men like this are at their most dangerous when women try to leave/kick them out.

Unfortunately the police wouldn’t be able to do much unless the child said they wanted to be with you, then he would be keeping the child against their will.

The child is a baby, and this claim is total nonsense. Of course the police could do something if an abusive father kidnapped a baby and tried to keep that baby away from its mother.

The law around child custody in this country is entirely based around the best interests of the child - and no court in the land would think it was in the best interests of a baby to be separated from its mother unless there was cast-iron evidence of abuse (and the threshold for that is incredibly high).

I meant before it goes to court. A police officer told me exactly what I put in my previous post when my dh took our daughter
Unless there is an order against them, they can take the child as they have equal parental rights

@CaraDuneRedux
You're totally wrong, the child's father has parental responsibility so it wouldn't be kidnap except in certain circumstances...

Unless he is abusive to the child and there are court orders regarding th child in place as a result he is entitled to have the child as are you. You would need to consult a solicitor in this case I think to sort out what steps you can take. If there is evidenced (the hard bit is prooving mental abuse) abuse physical or coercive then it may mean interim orders for residency and anti harrassment and also to take him out of your property, but a solicitor will be able to help you establish what is needed, what the time frames are and what you can do to protect yourself whilst it all kicks off. Anything interim will need to go back to court to establish long term arrangements for the child, it is seen as beneficial for a child to have contact with both parents and there would have to be specific issues for contact to be denied or reduced. If you skimp on this at the start you get issues further down as the process can be maipulated to cause problems - specifically if he is not bringing a child back on time or collecting when he should or putting the child in danger etc when with him. As others have said the age of your Son will also make a difference - so if he is 2 months old contact would be limited and overnights unlikely until older etc.

@CaraDuneRedux you are wrong. They both have PR and have equal rights until such time a court decides otherwise

Go see a solicitor and get a residency order

You can also get a prohibited steps order basically go and speak to a solicitor

I would tell him no, and if he doesn't like it, take you to court. It's very expensive so it may be unlikely. I've been in this position, it's horrible. I had care concerns for our daughter. I never let her out of my sight.

You can get a half hour consultation free.