I have a child support hearing on the first of feb. This is the first hearing and he will decide if he wants to be declared the father or wants a dna test. If he is declared the father could he just take her. Do i need to make sure that they give me custody of her?

First and foremost, calm yourself, nothing in the Family court system happens quickly...You have time to learn, and youve found a great place for support!!! Nobody can take your child from you, NOBODY, unless you willingly allow it.....Things take time to be changed, time is on your side....
To answer all of your questions, from my experiences, Id need more information....
From reading your original question, I gather that this hearing is to establish legal paternity(fatherhood) on his part, since you are the mother, you establish certain legal rights by default, since you actually gave birth to the child......I assume the Fathers name is not on the birth certificate?
Laws vary from state to state, Im in Wisconsin...When my Daughter was born, since I was not married to her mother at that time, we signed a form together, that established me as the legal Father, without having to have a DNA test....
From what I gather, nothing in this first hearing will esablish any sort of "custody", things will remain the way they are now for quite some time, the Family Court system does not wish to interfere in anyones life, until they are asked to do so by one party or another...
A few questions so the rest of us can help you more.....
What State do you live in?
The child lives with you now? All of the time?
Did, or does the Father live with you?
If the Father lives elsewhere, is he involved in the childs life?

You will be amazed at how much you will learn in the coming days/weeks....You found a great resource in this community!!!

I live in West Virginia. The child lives with me and always has. The father does not and we haven't live together since I was 2 months pregnant. He had some brief involvement in her life fromthe time she was three months until the time she was four months. He has threatened to take her several times. I just have seen these stories were if custody is not established and one parent takes the child the police do nothing. So I was wondering is when we go to establish paternity, if he says that he is the father then do I need to ask that I be given custody right then. I am sure no one here has any experience with wv law, I have never seen anyone from wv on here. Thank you for your response.

From what I understand(at least in my state), you being the mother, have custody (legal and physical) by default, you are obviously on the birth certificate as the mother...if he does establish legal paternity at this upcoming hearing(im not sure how that would happen), then he has rights, and a battle could emerge....

You can dig around on the internet, there are many forums with state specific questions posted, but the only way to know for sure, would be to visit with an Attourney....
Id at least talk with a Lawyer to find out what to do, before that hearing, you cant go wrong with that avenue...

I think if you can afford a lawyer, that would help. Custody will not happen at the first hearing. The law is on the side of the mother. He doesn't see your child or give money or has even acknowledged paternity, so a judge is not likely to grant custody to him. So try not to panic. A lawyer could really help navigate the system, and having an advocate is a good thing is these situations. If money is an issue, legal aid will often help. You have more to worry about down the road if he starts participating in your child's life. good luck, let us know how it goes.

Also, I meant to add, if you would like to PM me, please feel free. Good luck

One thing I want to correct is that you can have your child taken away from you even if you don't allow it by the court, but it is rare. I did it to my wife because she neglected by oldest daughter when she was 1 years old, allowing her to leave my home and run around the streets by herself. Like I said, it doesn't happen often and you have to do something incriminating to have it done. In my case there was a police report on the situation stating she admiting to the police she left her alone inside the house knowing the front door was broken. Measuring to the spot where my daughter was found, my daughter covered the distance of at least a football field. I didn't even have to meantion that fact and won full custody immediatly.

In your situation I agree they won't take custody from you, but I would get it in writing with a court order that you are the custodial parent BEFORE allowing him time alone with your children because being a father without a criminal history, he can easily take the children from you if you give him permission even for a minute, and not return them. The parent who has custody at the time of any police encounter usually keeps them until court, and court would change that back but like stated it is a long process and you don't want to wait for it, even the emergency custody hearings could take a while depending on the situation and what you put into the paperwork.

If you don't allow him to take the children willingly even for a minute and he does anyway, it is considered kidnapping and you will never have to worry about him taking them a second time because most states won't give visitation unless there was a major situation and he was doing it to protect the children from something you did, like my wife's neglect.

Basically always protect yourself. I can't stress that enough!

Glenn