Both parents have a right to see and visit with their kids.  Yes, unwed fathers have parental rights.  However, unwed fathers have a hurtle to overcome before they can exercise their rights as a father.  First, the unwed father must be a legal parent.  To become a legal parent, a father will need to establish legal paternity by first filing a petition to establish paternity in court and having the mother served.

For mothers with physical and legal custody, exercising that right is generally automatic because typically there is evidence at the birth that the mother is the legal mother.  For fathers, typically there are no witnesses to paternity and as such the father must prove his paternity.  

Child timesharing (custody and visitation) decisions are guided by what serves “the best interest of the child.”

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