Paternity & Single Fathers Rights

DON'T IGNORE THE SUMMONS:
One of the dumbest things you can do is to ignore a summons on a paternity case just because you do not believe that you are the father of the child involved in the case. You also should not ignore a summons because it was delivered to the wrong person or the wrong address.

By ignoring the summons, the you may have a default judgment entered against you, which would require you to pay thousands of dollars in child support. Immediately, upon learning that a court action is being pursued against you, it is a good idea for you to contact an attorney to assist you. If you cannot afford an attorney try to find a paralegal to assist you in filing the necessary forms in response to the documents you have received.

At the very least, you should personally show up in court as required by the summons and make your appearance in the case. When you personally appear in court, ask for blood tests to determine the paternity of the child involved in the case. You also should ask the court for a parental contact schedule with the child if you are the father of the child.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY:
Almost all states have programs to get fathers to acknowledge the paternity of a child while the child is still in the hospital following the birth of the child. It is not generally a good idea to sign these forms unless you are 110% certain that you are the father of the child and that you are willing to pay the tens of thousands of dollars that will be ordered by the court for the support of the child. Title IV-D agencies (which are responsible for filing paternity cases on the behalf of the various states) often will ask fathers to come in and sign an acknowledgment of paternity and an order requiring the father to begin paying child support.

Often these agencies will tell prospective child support payers that they will get a special deal on child support if they voluntarily sign the papers. While this is sometimes the truth, you should not sign any legal papers until you have had an attorney review them with you.

If you have any doubts about the paternity of the child in question, you should politely ask for genetic testing to determine paternity. As long as you are cooperative with the Title IV-D agency in taking the genetic tests and providing your financial information to the agency they will normally cut you the same deal they were promising when they were asking you to blindly sign the court orders.

PATERNITY TESTING:
When you consider that a child support payment of just $100 per month would cause you to pay over $20,000 during the minority of any child, you should strongly consider having a paternity test done in any case where you are not married to the mother of the child. For everyone's state of mind, this test will clarify whether you are the father of the child and may prevent future relationship problems with the child if one side or the other tries to deny paternity at some later date.

Under the Uniform Parentage Act (which has been passed in most states) a man is legally presumed to be the father of any child in which genetic testing shows that there is a 97% or higher probability that the man is the father of the child. Genetic paternity tests cost between $250 & $1000 depending upon your area.

One current testing method uses a swab to take skin cells from the inside of the mouth. The DNA composition of these cells is then analyzed. This method does not use any needles, is totally painless and is every bit as accurate as blood testing.

FILING FIRST:

Under the Uniform Parentage Act, you have the right to file a paternity action if you believe you MAY be the father of the child. If you believe that you may be the father of a child born out of wedlock, you may wish to file a paternity action first for two main reasons:

• If you are the father of a child, that child will need you to fulfill your responsibilities as a parent to that child. If the mother of your child does not want you to have contact with the child, the only way that you can legally make this contact happen is to get an order from the court requiring that you have contact with the child.
• If you are proven to be the father of a child that does not live in your home, you will be required to pay child support for the benefit of the child. Under federal and state law, you will be required to pay back any costs associated with providing welfare benefits for the child or for otherwise raising the child. These costs can run into the hundreds (if not thousands of dollars) each month and are normally much higher than a child support order would be for the father to pay.

If a father makes child support payments as required by a court order, the father generally does not have to make further payments for the benefit of the child to state agencies. By filing a paternity action right after the birth of the child, you may be able to save yourself thousands of dollars of payments to state agencies who might become involved in helping the child.

Note: Paying child support directly to the mother does not always count under Title IV-D. You must make child support payments as required by a court order. Buying items like diapers, clothes, and food does not count as child support.

MAKING CONTACT WITH THE CHILD:
Generally, when a state agency files a paternity action it does not do anything to assist fathers in setting up a parental time sharing schedule with their child. Normally, the agency asks the court for an order requiring the father to pay child support and to give the mother full custody of the child. This means the father will have to file a motion with the court to establish joint legal custody of the child and requesting that the court establish a parental time sharing schedule.

Many court systems provide the necessary forms for fathers to request the issuance of parental time sharing orders. If your court system does not provide such forms and you cannot afford to hire a good family law attorney, try asking the attorney how much it would cost for his assistant to draft up the forms for you to use as your own attorney. Pay the attorney a consultation fee so that he can explain how to file the papers and what do in court.

Other low cost options include the use of paralegal services in areas where they are available. Once you file your motion to have contact with the child, it is very likely that you will be ordered to go to mediation to set up a parenting schedule. If mediation fails, the judge will have to order a time sharing plan.

One problem many unwed fathers have when they are served with notice of a paternity action is not knowing the mother's address in order to serve her with the court documents required to establish parenting schedules. There are several ways to handle this problem. One way is to request that the agency filing the action serve the papers upon the mother (which they will sometimes do and sometimes won't).

If the agency will not serve the mother with the motion to establish parental time sharing orders, the agency is generally bound to serve the mother with interrogatories served upon the agency. Interrogatories are written questions that the rules of civil procedure require litigants to answer.

The first interrogatory is generally -- what is your name, address and phone number. If the mother refuses to answer this question, the case may be dismissed and the mother would lose all her welfare benefits and/or the ability to receive child support so there is a strong incentive to provide this information. There are a number of available options to find someone of the Internet.

Fill in the name, address, and phone number of the person filing the form.

Fill in the name of the county in which this request is being filed. (This m ay already be printed on the form.)

Fill in the name of each of the children for whom you wish to have an order of paternity entered. List the Mother's name on the line for Petitioner and the father's name of the line for Respondent.

Mark the one box that applies to your request.

• Birth Certificate - Mark this box if both parents have signed the birth certificate for the child(ren) and you have the certified birth certificate(s) to file with this request.
• Affidavit of Acknowledgment - Mark this box if both parents are signing this Request to ac knowledge paternity of the child(ren).
• Genetic Testing - Mark this box if both parents agree to e bound by the results of genetic testing, and you have a copy of the test results showing that the individual named as the father has not been excluded as the natural father.

Fill in the name and social security number of the natural mother of the child(ren).

List the full name, date of birth, state where born, and social security number (SSN) for each child for whom paternity is to be established. Social security numbers are not required for the children, but, if you have them, will help the Court take proper action on your case.

Mark the one box that corresponds to the box you marked in Item 5.

• Birth Certificate -- Print the name of the natural father on line (a). Attach a certified copy of the birth certificate for each child named in Item 7. Each certificate must be signed by both parents.
• Affidavit of Acknowledgment -- Print the name of the natural father on line (b). Both parents must have their signatures on this request notarized.
• Genetic Testing -- Print the name of the natural father on line (c). Both parents must agree to be bound by the results of genetic testing AND you must attach the genetic test report stating that the named father has not been excluded as the natural father.

Fill in the name, social security number, date of birth, and place of birth of natural father.

The natural mother must sign on this line in front of a notary public or Clerk of Court to affirm that the information on the form is true and correct to the best of her knowledge.

The natural father must sign on this line in front of a notary public or Clerk of Court to affirm that the information on the form is true and correct to the best of his knowledge.

WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THIS FORM:

• Complete an Order of Paternity form. See Related Question Below
• Take both forms and an y necessary attachments (depending on the box you checked in Item 8 ) to the Clerk of the Court.
• There will be a filing fee. If you cannot pay the fee, it can be waived or deferred. The Clerk has the forms to ask for a waiver or deferral./span>

Fill in the name, address, and phone number of the person submitting the form.

Fill in the name of the County in which this Order will be filed. (This may already be printed on the form.)

Fill in the name(s) listed in Item 3 of the Request.

Leave this item blank.

Fill in the name and social security number of the natural mother as listed in Item 6 of the Request for Order of Paternity.

For each child, fill in the name, date of birth, state where born, and social security number as listed in Item 7 of the Request. Social security numbers are not required for the children, but, if you have them, it will help the Court take proper action on your case.

Fill in the name, social security number, date of birth, and place of birth of the natural father. Leave the rest of the form blank. The Clerk will sign and date the Order. You may obtain a certified copy of the Order for a fee.