A Father's Rights Concerning Paternity

What are a father's rights concerning paternity? If a paternity suit is filed against him, what should he do? Many fathers have questions about paternity and the legal responsibilities that come along with it. Here is some basic information about the rights fathers have about paternity.

Paternity is when a man is known as the father of a child. If a man's wife has a baby, he is automatically granted paternity of the child. If the man finds out that he isn't the father, he can contest paternity. To do this, he and the child merely take a DNA test and the results tell whether he is the father. If he isn't the father, he has no responsibility towards the child and isn't required to pay child support if he and his wife divorce or separate. In some states there is a time limit on when a man can contest paternity.

If a man isn't married and he knows he is the father of a child, he can sign a form that declares his paternity. He then has custody and visitation rights to the child, and he also has the right and responsibility to care for the child financially and physically. This usually results in child support payments if the parents are no longer together.

If a man is informed by a woman that he is the father of a child, he has several rights. He has the right to take a paternity test to find out if that is true. If the paternity test is positive and he is the father, he then has the right to sign a form declaring paternity (if he doesn't sign the form, the mother can take him to court). He then has custody and visitation rights along with financial and other responsibilities towards the child.

A man has the right to have paternity established before he is legally responsible for a child. He doesn't need to take the mother at her word--he can have a paternity test to make sure that the child is his. If he is a father, he has all the rights that come with fatherhood.

Abigail Vernon