Paternity Attorney In Greenville, SC – What You Need To Know About Establishing Paternity

When married couples have babies, then the newborn will be “presumed” legally to be a child to the father and the mother. But when the couple is not married when the child is born, the child will not have an automatic “formal” relationship when it comes to the father. Here is more information on paternity, the reason why it is important, along with how parents are able to establish it.

About Establishing Paternity

The “presumptions of paternity” is an assumption that is regarded as legal that the man is, in fact, the father of a child. The most common and oldest presumption is what was previously mentioned: when a couple is married and they have a child, then the husband will be presumed legally that he is the father to this child. Here are the other ways that mothers and fathers are able to establish paternity:

• DNA and blood testing typically establish a likelihood that it is overwhelming that a man is a father to their child.
• Both the parents sign what is known as an “acknowledgment of parenthood”, “recognition of parentage”, or a “declaration of paternity”, which must be on a form that is state-approved, whereby both parents are agreeing that the man is the father to the child, and sign both their names before a witness.
• When a man “holds the child out” as his own. This means he is providing financial support, caring for the child, and treating the child as if it is his own, or
• The mother and the father have agreed to place the name of the father on the birth certificate of the child.

In certain cases, especially when a man is resisting admitting that he is the father of the child, a magistrate or judge will adjudicate the parentage of the child. This means that a court officially declares that the man is the father of a child, which will link them legally to one another forever.

Why Is Paternity Important?

In many of the states, when unmarried parents have a child, it is the mother that will retain sole legal and physical custody of that child until and unless paternity has been established. This will mean the mother will have the discretion to decide on what she wants for the child and whether or not to allow the father to see the child.

If the man would like to establish a relationship with this child or have a say in how the child is raised, it is very important that paternity is established so that he can request for custody.

Here are a few reasons why it may become important to hire a paternity attorney in Greenville, SC:

• If you are unmarried and only the name of the mother appears on your child’s birth certificate. In these cases, you can request that your paternity lawyer helps you to establish your paternity to grant you with necessary parental rights.
• In some cases, paternity testing becomes necessary to establish your parental rights when it comes to your children. If this is the case, you can benefit from consulting with a Greenville, SC paternity lawyer that has experience in South Carolina family courts.