While a child’s mother’s identity is usually easy to establish, proving the identity of a child’s father may be more difficult. In a paternity action, fatherhood is legally established; paternity issues most often appear in child support, inheritance, adoption and custody cases, but they may arise at other times as well.
Establishing Paternity in Court
Paternity actions are performed in civil court, and most states require a preponderance of the evidence to establish paternity. Some states, such as New York, require a higher standard of proof (clear and convincing evidence). However, these differing standards have negligible impact when considering recent technological advances like DNA testing. Your paternity attorney in Kansas City can help you gather the evidence you need.
DNA tests are usually done only in cases where paternity is in dispute. For instance, an alleged (putative) father in a child support case may ask for proof of paternity before he begins making support payments. In other instances, a mother may contest the alleged father’s assertions to prevent him from gaining custody or visitation rights. In still other cases, there is no dispute, and paternity is established voluntarily. It can also be established by circumstantial evidence such as when a man raises a child as his own, or when a baby is born during a marriage.
Once paternity has been established, a father is typically ordered to begin making child support payments. In most cases, a father who isn’t married to the mother of the child will not be awarded custody (if the mother is providing adequate care), but he will likely take precedence over third parties such as adoptive parents or grandparents.
Should I Consider Hiring an Attorney to Establish Paternity?
Like most issues in family law, paternity questions can have long lasting and far-reaching consequences-;both emotionally and financially. If you or someone you know is facing these issues, you or they should hire a Paternity Attorney in Kansas City who can explain Missouri’s paternity laws and help you protect your rights. By hiring the Gilby and Haynes Law Firm LLP, you can help to resolve any paternity issues you face, while achieving a fair and equitable outcome for everyone involved.