Inland Empire Paternity Lawyer

Establishing paternity can be difficult in some circumstances. If you require the assistance of an Inland Empire paternity attorney, contact the Law Office of Laurence J. Brock.

When a couple is legally married and has a child together, the law assumes the mother’s spouse is the father and gives that man legal rights to the child. With legal rights come responsibilities, such as financially providing for the child and the responsibility to raise and care for the child.

Should the parents separate, the father has those same responsibilities and is legally obligated to continue providing for his child.

If a couple is not married, the father or partner may not automatically be considered the legal parent—not until paternity or parentage has been established. Paternity can be established in a few different ways. If you need help establishing paternity, contact an Inland Empire paternity lawyer.

Establishing Paternity in California: How’s it Done?

Paternity can be established automatically in the following ways:

• If a father voluntarily claims the child when he or she is born and his name is added to the birth certificate, then he will be considered a legal parent.
• If a father always treated a child as though the child was his, even if the child wasn’t biologically his, he may be considered the child’s parent.
• If a couple attempted to marry, but the marriage was not considered valid, the children could still legally be the man’s children.

If paternity wasn’t automatically established, you can do so in the following ways:

• You can go to a hospital, welfare office, or court to voluntarily declare parentage, or the father can complete the Voluntary Declaration of Parentage form in front of a notary and have it filed.
• When a father doesn’t wish to claim the child is usually when things get complicated. You may need to obtain a court order to force the father to own up to his responsibilities. DNA testing may be necessary to determine who the father is.

What Circumstances Would Require You to Establish Paternity?

You might need to establish or disprove paternity in the Inland Empire under the following circumstances:

• If a couple is not married and has a child, the father is not legally the child’s parent unless parentage has been established. The same goes for same-sex couples. Parentage must be established for a parent to have legal rights to the child.
• When the father of a child is refusing to care for or provide child support for a child, the mother may need to have paternity established.
• If a father is being barred from seeing his child, he may wish to have paternity established so he can have visitation and custody rights.

Speak with an Inland Empire Paternity Attorney

Whatever your reasons for needing paternity established, a family lawyer can make it happen. Contact an Inland Empire paternity lawyer to discuss your paternity or parentage case. The Law Office of Laurence J. Brock can be reached when you dial 909-466-7661 or fill out the online contact form at the bottom of the page.