Father's Rights

No longer are the days where a father's role in his child's life is considered less important than a mother's.  If you are a father or suspect that you may be the father of a child, we will aggressively protect your right to be in your child's life. 

If you believe you have fathered a child, there are very important steps that must be taken to protect your rights.  One of the first steps is to establish paternity.  The goal of a paternity suit is to establish who is or is not the natural parent of a child.  Often times, this will require a DNA test.  If the man is determined to be the father of a child, then he will be given legal rights to that child.  Once paternity is established, then the court determines custody, visitation and support.  Typically, a man who believes he is the father but has not been adjudicated the father of a child is not allowed visitation. 

There are certain situations where a man is presumed to be the natural father of a child.  Those situations are:

• The child was born within 300 days of the termination of a valid marriage or a marriage that was, in fact, invalid but the parties were acting as though the marriage was valid.
• After the child's birth, the father and the child's natural mother have married or attempted to marry, each other by a marraige solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid
• The father acknowledged his paternity in writing filed with the department of health
• The father consented to being named the father of the child on the child's birth certificate
• The father is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order
• While the child is underage, the alleged father receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural child
• Parentage is established through genetic testing
• The father executes a voluntary, written acknowledgement of paternity of the child signed by him under oath which is filed with the department of health.

There are several things that fathers should avoid doing in paternity and/or custody cases.  Examples are waiting too long to take action or failing to pay child support.  These and other mistakes can have serious consequences and can put your parental rights at risk.   

You deserve to have the best chance of a favorable outcome.  Our firm is experienced in father's rights and will aggressively advocate on your behalf.