I am the father of a child who was born out of wedlock, do I have rights to visitation and timesharing?
If there is no Court order establishing paternity and a timesharing schedule, you will be at the mercy of your child’s mother until a schedule can be established. The police will not intervene on your behalf and take your child away from the mother. Until you file your paternity case, you will essentially be without recourse to enforce visitation with your child.
I signed the birth certificate, but I am unsure if I am the father, can I contest Paternity?
If you have signed the birth certificate, you are legally presumed to be the father of your child and to have waived your rights to a paternity test. If there is compelling evidence that you are not the father, you must file a Petition to Disestablish Paternity in order to be removed from the birth certificate.
The father of my child has not paid any child support, what are my rights?
A child support obligation begins automatically when unmarried parties separate. This does not mean it becomes Court ordered, it means that retroactive child support begins to accrue until the father begins paying. Any payments made by the father will be assigned to him as a credit towards his arrears. We recommend to all of our clients that they begin paying child support right away, so as to ensure the needs of their child are met and to ensure that no arrears begin to accrue. In order to establish Court-ordered child support, you must file a Paternity case. It is important to note that you can only receive retroactive child support for 2 years prior to the date of filing your Paternity case.
