establish paternity

Fathers Have Rights – Establishing Paternity

Paternity is defined as the quality or state of being a father.  Many issues arise in the face of a father being denied access to his child or wondering if he is truly the child’s father.  Where paternity of a child is in question, a mother or alleged father may ask the court to determine paternity of one or several possible fathers. 

Most paternity actions involve a child born out of wedlock.  However, paternity actions also occur between married persons where someone other than the husband is the father of the child, or where the husband has fathered a child outside of the marriage.  There is a presumption that a child born to a married woman is the child of the husband.  However, this presumption can be overcome by DNA or other valid evidence. 

If you are questioning paternity, think about when the child could have been conceived.  Consider when you had relevant or timely intercourse.  Understand that paternity is determined by testing DNA from the father and the mother through the use of genetic fingerprinting.  DNA testing is done by drawing blood or by taking a buccal swab, when cells are wiped from the inside of the mouth with a cotton swab.  These tests can determine the father of a child with up to 99% accuracy.  DNA testing is currently the most advanced and accurate technology to determine parentage.  Generally paternity testing is paid for by the father.

If you file a paternity suit, you can request the court order DNA testing.  A court may order the mother, father and the child to submit to testing.  Paternity testing can be done during pregnancy or when the child is as young as one day old. 

Paternity proceedings can be filed by the alleged father, mother, child or child support division of a state.  A private action for paternity is usually prosecuted to secure child support payments from the father, parenting time with the child, and/or fair rights and privilege allocation. 

Some men are confident that they are the biological father and wish to maintain a legal relationship with the child whether or not they are the father and thus either initiate paternity actions or consent to the entry of a paternity order.  The paternity order entitles the father to visitation time with the child and creates a legal duty for the father to provide for the support of the child in addition to awarding him rights and privileges regarding the child’s future development.

When you consent to the entry of a paternity order, absent fraud, you consent for life.  Most jurisdictions will not allow you to escape the consequences of that order, including the requirement of payment for the support of the child.  If there is a chance that you will resent the child, or wish to break off the relationship with the child or, if you ultimately learn that you are not the child’s biological father, make certain you obtain a DNA test before legally admitting and therefore confirming that you are a child’s father. 

Custody of a child can either be awarded to the father or the mother in a paternity action depending on the facts.  Child support in a paternity action is generally set according to state law standards unless the parties sign an agreement providing for the payment of child support that is approved by the court. 

Reasons to establish paternity:  to provide the child with a needed identity; to confirm rights, privileges and duties of a parent; to know the health history of both the mother and father for medical care and treatment of a child; establish financial support for the child; establish health insurance coverage, social security eligibility, inheritance and other benefits; and seek public assistance where qualified.

By Nacol Law Firm P.C. | Paternity
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She Says I’m the Father : Now What?

Recently the news covering the custody battle between Bode Miller and his child’s biological mother Sarah McKenna became a 24-hour news cycle. According to court filings, Ms. McKenna while still pregnant moved to New York from California to attend school. Approximately a month prior to Ms. McKenna’s departure from California, Mr. Miller filed a paternity and custody suit in California State Court. Two days after the child was born, Ms. McKenna filed a custody case in New York State Court. The New York family court decided that the Ms. McKenna had “fled” California with the child in utero; and, while this was not child abduction under the UCCJEA, the Court decided the move was simply to avoid the California Court’s jurisdiction. Further, the Court decided that the prior paternity/custody suit filed in California by Mr. Miller, “trumped” the New York filing as well, giving California statutory authority to decide the custody issue. In On November 14, 2013, the New York Family Court’s decision was overturned on appeal and was remanded back to New York family court for further decision on all issues.

This case has ignited a debate over whether a mother may move an unborn child to a different jurisdiction prior to the birth of the child.

Even if you have not been proven to be the biological father of the child, in Texas, you still have legal rights that may be enforced.

Prior to the birth of the child, you may request a DNA test from the court. If the mother agrees paternity can be determined even before the baby is born. In addition, now there are non-evasive and less risky options for prenatal testing for paternity.

A purported father does have the right to establish paternity. Establishing paternity in Texas can be a process that occurs prior to the birth of the child. There are several forms of pre-natal testing available. Some methods are costly and some methods more invasive than others. In Texas, a man can establish paternity prior to the birth of a child by filing a request for adjudication of parentage and voluntary litigation. If the mother agrees to prenatal testing the Court will accept the DNA test results and make a determination on the record. However, if the mother does not agree, a Court may not force her to have invasive testing on the fetus.

A purported father has a right to a custody determination although this right cannot be determined prior to the birth of the child. In Texas, a court has jurisdiction to decide custody issues if Texas is the “home state” of the child. In the case of a child less than six months of age, “home state” means “the state in which the child lived from birth with a parent. . . .” Tex. Fam. Code Ann §152.102(7); see also Waltenburg v. Waltenburg, 270 S.W.3d 308, 315 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2008, no pet.).

By Nacol Law Firm P.C. | Paternity
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Out of Wedlock Children and Texas Fathers Rights

The Brookings Institute states that 41% of all births in 2012 were to unwed mothers! What are a father’s rights over his children? With dropping marriage rates and increasing non-married couples living together, the percentage of children being born out of wedlock is growing yearly. How are the fathers of these children treated? In most states, the mother of a child has 100% of the custody rights until the paternity of the father is legally established.  How does a Texas father legally establish paternity when the mother of their child refuses to allow him to sign the birth certificate and tells him that he will never have any type of communication or relationship with his child?

In today’s fast pace world there are many situations where a woman may selfishly just want a child with no strings attached, including a dad!  Welcome to the internet dating world! Many professional men are contacting us concerning an internet dating contact, a short relationship, and pregnancy. The father then is told he will not be allowed in the child’s life and if he tries, serious legal problems will be encountered or he will face serious and costly legal road blocks pursued by the mother!

Practicing attorneys in Texas who defend Interstate Jurisdiction cases help many fathers who live in other states while the mother and child reside in Texas.

What are a father’s rights in the State of Texas? Any and every right a parent may have is available to a father who seeks them.

What should a father, living out of state, with a child living in Texas, do to establish his paternity and legally enforce his father’s rights?  He should consult an attorney ASAP who can help him obtain and preserve his paternity rights with his child.  Once the judge issues a finding of paternity, the father has all the rights of any other father such as custody, decision making, conservator rights, and visitation rights.

How does the father file for paternity of the child in Texas?

  1. Paternity Registry (Family Code 160.401-2)

A man who desires to be notified of a proceeding for the adoption of or the termination of parental rights regarding a child that he may have fathered may register with the registry of paternity:

Before the birth of the child or no later than the 31st day after the date of the birth of the child

  1. Alternate means to Establish Paternity (Family Code 160.301-2 and 160.402, 160.601)

The mother of a child and a man claiming to be the biological father of the child may sign an acknowledgment of paternity with the intent to establish the man’s paternity.  An acknowledgment of the paternity must:

  • Be in a record

  • Be signed or otherwise authenticated by the mother And the Man seeking to establish paternity

  • State that the child whose paternity is being acknowledged:

         1. Does not have a presumed father or has a presumed father whose full name is stated

         2. Does not have another acknowledged or adjudicated father

  • State whether there has been genetic testing and that the acknowledging man’s claim of paternity is consistent with the results of the testing

  • State that the signatories understand that the acknowledgment is the equivalent of a judicial adjudication of the paternity of the child and that a challenge to the acknowledgment is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred after 4 year.

A man is entitled to notice of a proceeding regardless of whether he registers with the registry of paternity if:

  • A father-child relationship between the man and the child has been established under this chapter or another law.

  • The man commences a proceeding to adjudicate his paternity before the court has terminated his parental rights.

The parentage of a child may be adjudicated in a civil proceeding by voluntary litigation.

A Father should be proactive and enforce his rights promptly to enhance his probability of fair and equal treatment that is binding under the law!

By Nacol Law Firm P.C. | Interstate Jurisdiction . Paternity
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Please contact father’s rights Dallas Attorney Mark Nacol, or father’s rights Dallas Attorney Julian Nacol with the Nacol Law Firm P.C., for legal insight to your rights as a father. Both attorney Mark Nacol, and attorney Julian Nacol , provide counsel in the area of family law including divorce, father’s rights, interstate jurisdiction, child support, child custody, visitation, paternity, parent alienation, modifications, property division, asset division and more. Attorney Mark A. Nacol is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Our attorneys at The Nacol Law Firm P.C. serve clients throughout Texas, including Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties and the communities of Addison, Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Grapevine, Highland Park, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Prosper, Richardson, Rowlett and University Park, Murphy,Wylie, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Irving, along with surrounding DFW areas.

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