Filing For Paternity

CHILD PATERNITY ISSUES

Kissimmee Paternity Attorney - Lawyer legal representation for residents involved in Child Paternity, Divorce, or other Family Law legal issues or disputes in Kissimmee, St Cloud, Orlando, Osceola County, Orange County, Seminole County, and the surrounding Central Florida area.

A petition to Establish Paternity and related relief should be used by a birth mother or father to ask the court to establish paternity, a time-sharing schedule, and/or child support of a minor child or children. This means that you are trying to legally establish who is the father of the child or children.

Sometimes the legal father is not the biological father of a child and the Court must determine which person should enjoy the rights to timesharing and the obligations of being a parent. if the person answering the petition (the Respondent) denies that the person named in the petition is the child's father, then you request the Court to order scientific testing to determine the biological father. The Court will not always order scientific testing and it is important to let the Court know whether the father signed an acknowledgement of paternity or is named as the father on the child's birth certificate.

Let Carpenter Law evaluate your paternity case and explain your options and what is best for you and your child.

Once the Court determines who is the child's father or the parents agree who the father is, the Court will often require a parenting plan which divides the duties and responsibilities of each parent in regard to the child.

Sometimes circumstances change after your divorce or other family law agreement has been established as a standing court order. If the previously unforeseen changes in circumstances are significant enough to warrant a modification request by the court, the law allows you to go back into court and ask that the original agreement be revised or modified.

A post judgment modification may be requested by either party identified by the standing court order. Common Post Judgment Family Law Modifications include, but are not limited to:

· Child Custody (Parenting Plan) Modification: A parent may make a request to change the existing child custody or visitation court orders is a significant change in circumstances exist to warrant a modification of the current child custody and visitation orders. However, any modification must still be in the best interest of the child or children.

· Child Support Modification: A parent may make a request to change the existing court ordered amount of child support owed when a substantial change in the circumstances surrounding the support of the child can be effectively demonstrated to the court. However, any modification must still be in the best interest of the child or children.

· Alimony Modification: A spouse may make a request to change the existing court ordered amount of spousal support / alimony owed if they can demonstrate a substantial change in the circumstances surrounding the spousal support / alimony which warrants the alteration of an alimony award.

As a law firm providing professional Child Paternity Attorney – Lawyer legal services in Kissimmee, St Cloud, Orlando, Osceola County, Orange County, Seminole County, and the surrounding Central Florida area, we will always work diligently to protect your legal rights and options regarding Child Paternity, Divorce, or other Family Law issues or disputes. Learn more about your rights by scheduling a confidential legal consultation with an experienced Paternity Attorney at Carpenter Law, P.A. by calling407.343.7737, or by using our online email submission form.

In order for a post judgment modification to be granted it must be established that the change of circumstances meet the burden of significant change, or the modification has been mutually agreed upon by both parties. The burden of significant change may be different for each modification request due to the unique circumstances of each family law case.

Regarding Child Support Modifications, generally a 15% or better increase or decrease in the ordered child support will be considered a substantial change in circumstances.

Regarding Alimony Modification Requests, if the person paying alimony gets a pay raise or higher paying job, this may not be grounds for the other party to request more in alimony, however, if the person paying alimony looses his or her job or has an unforeseen reduction in income this may be grounds for requesting an alimony reduction. There are many variables that may prompt an alimony modification by either party. Experienced legal counsel can provide you the answers you need relating to your specific circumstances, as well as represent you in your alimony modification hearing.

Get Answers You Need About Child Paternity Issues

Make sure you are fully aware of your legal rights and options in any divorce or family law legal issue. We are ready to provide the answers you need and the representation you deserve. Speak to a child paternity attorney at Carpenter Law, P.A. by calling407.343.7737, or by using our online email submission form.

Professional Child Paternity Attorney - Lawyer legal services Kissimmee, St Cloud, Orlando, Osceola County, Orange County, Seminole County, and the surrounding Central Florida area.

What is Paternity?

Paternity is legal fatherhood. If the mother is married when the child is born, her husband is the legal father of the child. If the mother is not married, the child does not have a legal father. Getting paternity gives the child a legal father.

Parents who are married to each other when their child is born do not have to do anything to prove paternity.

How can you get paternity for your child?

Paternity can be established by:

Paternity Acknowledgment—both parents sign a paternity acknowledgment form in the hospital when the baby is born or later. Parents can get a paternity acknowledgment form online at www.doh.state.fl.us/Planning_eval/Vital_Statistics/template3.htm

Administrative Paternity Order—After a genetic test scientifically proves who is the father of a child, a paternity order is issued.

• There is no need to go to court.

• There is no cost for the genetic test.

• The order is based on genetic test results. The results are accurate and accepted by courts around the world.

• The administrative paternity order is just as legal as a judicial paternity order.

Judicial Paternity Order—The court looks at all the facts and issues a court order for paternity.

• The mother and the man she named as the father must appear at a court hearing.

• The court may order a genetic test.

How long does it take to get paternity?

• The quickest way to get paternity is to sign the paternity acknowledgment in the hospital when the baby is born or later.

• An administrative paternity order may take 3 months or more depending on how quickly the parents respond to the notices and take the genetic test.

• A judicial paternity order may take 6 months or more depending on the court hearing schedule and the parents’ response to the court actions.

Why is getting paternity good for your child?

Legally identifying a child’s father gives a child certain legal rights and privileges.

These include access to . . .

• Health and life insurance benefits.

• Social Security.

• Military or veterans’ benefits.

• The medical history.

• Financial support from both parents.

• Inheritance.

It can also create emotional ties. Children are more likely to be successful in life if they have two active, involved parents.

Why is getting paternity good for the parents?

Many parents develop deep, loving bonds with their sons and daughters.

Whether you are the mother or the father, parenthood can give you a sense of responsibility and accomplishment.

You will have the satisfaction of nurturing your children and passing your culture along to them.

The father’s name is added to the child’s birth record.

You can get paternity for your child even if:

• The parents are under 18 years old

• The parents are in school or do not work

• The parents live in different states