All You Need To Know About Paternity Process

 

A lot of children are born to couples who are not married. If you would like to establish the parentage of your children, you have several options under California law. An experienced San Bernardino family law attorney suggests that parents must determine parentage to set legal rights, custody and visitation rights, and child support. If you would like to establish the paternity of your children, you may need to take legal action.

Declaration of paternity or parentage

For married couples, when a child is born during the union, family law presumes that both individuals have parental rights. In the case of non-married couples, a voluntary declaration of parentage can be signed, witnessed, and entered into a state database.

This is known as a judgment of paternity (parentage). It is a document that states that the signer is the child’s other legal parent. You can obtain a judgment of paternity in two ways:

a.      The father can voluntarily sign a document of paternity when the baby is born. This necessitates the father to be aware of the child and involved in their life at birth.

b.      One parent can obtain a court order stating the other parent’s identity.

Going to court to establish paternity

A professional domestic violence lawyer in Orange County suggests that either parent can initiate a case to establish parentage. The 1^st step is to file a petition to establish parental relations. This petition can include other requests such as custody, visitation, and support. After the petition is filed with the court, it is served on the other parent. That parent has thirty days to respond. That parent can admit to being the child’s parent and agree to any other requests or deny being the child’s parent and disagree with any further requests.

If there is an agreement, the parents can put that agreement in writing and submit it to the court without having to appear before a judge. If the parents can’t agree, a hearing will be scheduled. The court will examine each case’s circumstances and possibly genetic testing results.

What can I do if I am not married and would like to establish myself as the parent?

One way of establishing parentage is by signing voluntary declaration of paternity when the baby is born. The signing of this document will be witnessed by the hospital staff, who will forward the declaration to a state database. This has the same effect as a court judgment for paternity. Another way to establish a parental relationship is by filing a petition to establish parental relations with the court.

Do I still have parental rights if I have not seen my child or paid child support?

In the majority of cases, yes. The failure to see a child or pay support does not generally have an effect on your parental rights on its own.

Sunita Sood at The Law Offices of Sood and Sood is the best family law attorney in Riverside you can count on. To know more on paternity process, contact her today!