The legal identification of a child’s father is known as paternity. The legal father of a kid is responsible for the child’s financial support and has the right to seek custody or visitation with his child. It is crucial to remember that paternity can be established in a variety of ways. Paternity can be presumed when a child is born to a civil partnership, when a couple signs a paternity letter voluntarily, or when a father marries the mother after the child is born and adopts the child.
Obtaining a court order or signing an official declaration of paternity that states who the legal parents of a child are the first step in establishing parentage. This is significant because if a child’s parents were not married when the mother became pregnant or when the child was born, the child lacks a legal father until parentage is proved.
Our Glendale paternity attorneys at Baghdaserians Law Group, Inc. have a wide range of experience handling family law matters and can help when you are dealing with paternity issues as they pertain to any custody or family law issue.
When the parents were not married or registered domestic partners at the time of the child’s birth, a paternity lawsuit is typically used to officially verify or confirm the biological father of the child. A child’s parentage must normally be established in court before child support, custody, or parenting time (visitation) orders can be obtained.
While California’s parentage statutes provide methods for establishing parentage for parents who were not married at the time of their child’s birth, the common law of de facto parentage, which allows someone who has fulfilled a parental role (without a biological or adoptive relationship to the child) to legally establish a parental relationship, may also be applied by the courts in California.
Establishing parentage for a child may appear to be a technicality that is only necessary if the parents are unable to co-parent the child cooperatively; however, aside from the emotional and psychological benefits that a child receives from knowing who both of his or her parents are, establishing parentage grants the child certain rights and privileges.
These legal rights and privileges in California are based on a variety of reasons. An experienced paternity lawyer can assist you in determining when paternity is required and why it is relevant in your case.
When two persons are married at the time of a child’s birth, California courts find that they are the parents of that child. The legal parents of this child are presumed to be married adults under California law. In most circumstances, this means that parentage is established automatically.
If parentage has not already been proved, a male in California may request a paternity test to determine if he is the biological father of a child. To escape the duties that come with legal parenting, such as financial support and decision-making, contesting paternity may be necessary.
Paternity cases can be straightforward, but sometimes difficulties arise, which is when it may be necessary to employ an attorney. Schedule a consultation with our Glenda paternity attorneys at the Baghdaserians Law Group, Inc. Our attorneys help those throughout the Los Angeles area. Call us today at 626-460-9525 for our Pasadena office or 310-299-4608 for our Beverly Hills office.
We serve clients throughout California including, but not limited to, those in the following localities: Los Angeles County including Arcadia, Baldwin Park,
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