Orlando Paternity Lawyer
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by Attorney Mark O’Mara
Content last updated on: April 14, 2023
When a mother has a baby, the legal system doesn’t at all question that mother’s legal rights related to her baby; it is widely understood that she is indeed the child’s biological and rightful mother. For fathers, though, it’s not always as straightforward. While fathers who are married at the time of their child’s birth will be assumed to be the child’s legal father, fathers who are unmarried will not be. For unmarried fathers, then, establishing paternity is a must. Paternity refers to legal parental rights, and is very important. To learn more about how to establish paternity and why it matters, reach out to the Orlando paternity lawyers at the O’Mara Law Group tod
How to Establish Paternity in Florida
As mentioned above, fathers who are married at the time of a child’s birth will automatically have the rights of paternity conferred upon them; for others, though, there are two ways to establish paternity
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Sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity
Parents who are unmarried at the time that a child is born can both sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form, The form must be signed by both parents in the presence of two witnesses or a notary. -
Court order
If paternity has not been determined by the parents signing a voluntary acknowledgment form, then a judge can establish paternity by issuing a court order. Before the order is issued, the judge will order genetic testing. Court orders may be appropriate in instances where paternity is debated and disagreed upon by the mother and the alleged father.
Why Establishing Paternity Matters
Establishing paternity is one of the most important things that you can do as a mother or as a father. Establishing paternity provides many benefits to a child, including access to health and medical information, health or life insurance, child support, government benefits, and more, including the psychological comfort of knowing where one comes from.
For fathers, it is impossible to seek any custody of or visitation with a child until paternity has been established. The same is true for mothers who are seeking child support payments.
How Our Law Firm Can Help
At the office of the O’Mara Law Group, we know how important paternity is and how big of an impact it can have on other areas of your life, including having visitation rights with your child if you’re a father. If you have questions about paternity, we can help. If paternity is contested, we can help you to bring forth a court action to establish paternity, and will represent you throughout the process. We work with both mothers and fathers on a wide array of family law issues, ranging from paternity to divorce to child custody and more.
You can schedule a consultation with our Florida family law attorneys by calling our office directly or sending us a message online. Our services are confidential and we promise to work hard for you.
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