
Quoting
aardvarc
It doesn't matter if the husband KNOWS she's pregnant or not. Unless she is LEGALLY divorced at the time of the birth, the husband WILL BE the legal father of the child, even if he's been on the moon for 10 years. This is one of the major legal powers of marriage, and for you, one of the major downsides of NOT being married to someone you make children with. And, now that she's pregnant, the divorce cannot be finalized until the child is born, even if the husband is willing to sign the papers, because now the COURT will hold the divorce. There is a right way and a wrong way to end one relationship and start a new one, and this way is going to mean that once the child is born, you'll need to bring a paternity case (since the child will already HAVE a default father), have yourself established as the father instead of the soon-to-be-ex-husband (which can coincide with the divorce, since the child NOT being the father's WILL have impact on that case too). Once you're established as the father, if you want legal rights regarding the child, you'll then need to bring a visitation/custody case, and to expect that as part of that case that the court will order child support. Once the divorce is final, if you choose to marry the mother of your child, the visitation/child support issue becomes moot as the marriage would automatically establish your legal position. If you choose NOT to marry however, you'll still need to follow up on establishing legal ties to your child beyond JUST being on the birth certificate -because mom will still be, by default, the child's sole guardian until you do so.