Paternity Actions Are For Never Married Mothers And Fathers

Establishing paternity is an important step in your child’s future, as well as the future of the father and mother. It not only establishes who is responsible for the financial support of the child, but it also establishes parental rights. If you are the father of a child and have not established your parental rights, you have no right to allocation of parental responsibilities. If you are the mother of a child and are seeking child support from the father, you have no right to such a claim unless the father has either voluntarily acknowledged that the child is his, or has been determined to be the father by means of a DNA test.

We can help you establish parental rights and obtain a legal determination regarding who the father of your child is.

Our attorneys have been helping mothers and fathers deal with paternity matters for many years. Their knowledge of the law and experience with handling these matters can make the entire paternity process easier.

Establishing Parental Rights And Obligations

There are several ways to establish parental rights and legally determine the identity of a child’s father. The most simple is by having the father sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP). This method works well when the father is ready and willing to take responsibility for the child. However, in some cases the potential father involved may deny that he is the father of the child.

In these situations, we must look to other means, such as DNA testing, to determine the identity of the father. Sometimes the potential father will agree to a DNA test; in other cases, the potential father wants nothing to do with paternity testing and must be ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction to undergo DNA testing. We can file a petition with the court to help make this happen.

Once the identity of the father is determined and parental rights have been established, you can take the next step which involves establishing parental responsibilities, visitation, and determining child support.

To discuss how we can help you with a paternity matter, please call Greenwich Law Group, LLC at 847-382-3995 (Oak Park), 312-558-9700 (Chicago ), or you may send us a confidential email to schedule a consultation. We offer reasonable fees and also accept major credit cards. Our lawyers represent clients from offices in Oak Park and Chicago .