If a father abandoned his child, and the mother pursued child support down the road, would that give him the right to see the child?

Dear Anonymous:     Raising a child is an expensive venture and you should not have to go it alone.  So, if you decide to pursue collecting child support (which also requires establishing paternity) the biological father can try to establish time sharing with your daughter.  That does not mean he would get timesharing right away.  The Court must always consider the best interest of the child.    With that said, if you pursue child support through the FLorida Department of Revenue first, you will not have to pay for legal services.  Second, although for the past approximately 18 months, a child support cace through the Department of Revenue can address child timesharing (before that was not possible), the Court in a DOR case may only do so if both parties agree on a timesharing schedule.  If the father decides to pursue timesharing because an agreement could not be reached in the DOR case, he would have to file a separate law suit to do so in circuit court.  He could, but he doesn't sound  like he would make the effrort.  Only time will tell.   On a final note, you can receive retroactive child support for up to 24 months.  Therefore, if your child is just 2 years old, you should be able to get back support for the majority of time since her birth if you pursue this soon.   Best of luck to you, Cindy S. Vova Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Broward/Boca Raton 954-316-3496/561-962-2785