• The Oregon Revised Statutes provisions regarding child custody apply to babies.Baby image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
  
  For parents in Oregon, the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) guide the parties toward an understanding of how a court will resolve their child custody disputes. Courts following the statutes will consider parents abilities and character as well as, and most importantly, the best interest of the baby.
  
  

Oregon Child Custody Generally

• ORS Section 107.137 sets forth the factors an Oregon court must consider in deciding matters of child custody. In a dispute between parents--married or unmarried--the court looks at the emotional ties between the child and other family members, the parties' interest in, and attitude toward, the child, the desirability of continuing a relationship between a parent and the child, the abuse of one parent by the other, the willingness of a parent to encourage a healthy relationship between the child and the other parent and "the preference for the primary caregiver of the child, if the caregiver is deemed fit by the court." Although the law does not address babies per se, the language referring to a "preference for the primary caregiver" of the baby indicates that the mother of an extremely young child will enjoy at least some special consideration in a child custody analysis. The strength and operation of this preference will vary on a case-by-case basis.
  
  

Child Custody Between Unmarried Parents

• While the factors embodied in ORS Section 107.137 apply to unmarried parents as well as married parents, special statutes exist in cases where a child is born out of wedlock. A father who has acknowledged paternity or to whom paternity has been established has the same rights as a father married to the mother; however, the law requires him to take some action to assert his paternal status. Once paternity is established, sole legal custody lies with whoever had physical custody of the child at the time the acknowledgment of paternity or petition for paternity was filed until a court determines otherwise. As for the baby, this usually means the mother is the default legal custodian absent court action, although Oregon law disavows any preference for a mother over a father.
  
  

Establishing Paternity

• While a man who is married to a baby's mother at the time of its birth or within 300 days before its birth is arguably presumed to be the father, an unmarried father must take steps to establish paternity and therefore equality of rights. A man may establish paternity by filing an acknowledgment of paternity form with the State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics or by filing a filiation proceeding in circuit court. A filiation proceeding is a process by which a court can determine the paternity of a child.