Paternity is important for a number of reasons. It establishes the legal rights and responsibilities of a father for his child, including the obligation to provide financial support. It also provides the child with a sense of identity, security, and emotional connection to their father. Additionally, it can help to ensure that the biological father is involved in the child’s life, playing a role in the child’s upbringing and providing a sense of stability.
Definition Of Paternity
Paternity is an important legal concept that determines the rights and responsibilities of a father towards his child. It also has implications for visitation and custody rights, as well as financial obligations. Juxtaposed against this, establishing paternity can have far-reaching benefits for both father and child alike.
Legally speaking, paternity establishes not only the identity of a person’s biological parent but also their legal parental relationship to the child in question. This includes determining who holds legal responsibility for the child’s upbringing, including making decisions about schooling or medical care. In addition, it grants fathers certain privileges such as visitation rights and even joint custody depending on local laws.
Furthermore, establishing legal paternity creates opportunities for children to receive various forms of support from their parents financially or otherwise.
Benefits Of Establishing Paternity
Establishing paternity has a wide range of benefits for both the father and child. One of the main advantages is that it gives legal rights to the father, such as providing access to inheritance, making decisions about medical care, or being able to claim custody in a divorce proceeding.
Furthermore, knowing one’s biological parents can provide important insight into one’s the genetic background and family history which can be essential when dealing with potential medical issues in the future.
Who Can Establish Paternity?
Paternity establishment often occurs with unmarried couples who do not sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) form at a hospital or at a state agency shortly after the birth of the child.
The alleged father and mother must work together to establish the paternity of the child. A man cannot force a mom to allow him to establish paternity. Both parties must work together. In the event. either the mother or father would have to file a paternity petition with Family Court Judge. If accepted the Judge would more than like to request a DNA paternity test be performed.
Genetic Testing To Determine Paternity
There are two ways a paternity test is performed for paternity establishment.
1. If both the alleged father and mother of the child agree to perform a legal paternity test. A legal paternity test performed by an AABB-accredited DNA laboratory is required because test results performed by an AABB-accredited DNA laboratory are the only type of results that are recognized by state and government institutions such as Family Court.
2. The second option occurs when the alleged father and mother do not agree on the paternity of the child. When this happens either party can file a paternity petition with a Family Court Judge. Only when the petition is accepted by the judge will a court order will be sent to the respondent (oftentimes this is the father).
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are The Legal Implications Of Refusing To Establish Paternity?
The possible legal consequences a father may face for not establishing paternity occur when the mother of the child files a petition with the court. If the Judge accepts the petition and issues a court order for the alleged father to appear in court.
In the event, the alleged biological father decides not to appear in court. The Judge may decide to hold the man in contempt of court. The penalty for disobeying the order may result in fines or jail time. How the presiding Judge views the violation will be up to his or her discretion.
If you have a valid reason for missing your court appearance. It is recommended that you communicate your circumstance with the court in a timely fashion. More importantly, it is also recommended that you seek legal counsel in your state to ensure you understand what you can expect to happen based on your situation.
Is There A Time Limit For Establishing Paternity?
Yes. There is a limit to when paternity can be established. For a state like New Jersey. Paternity can be established up to the age of 23. Please note, each state’s statute of limitation to establish paternity is different.
For example, California does not have a set statute of limitation for paternity establishment. What they do have in place is, if there is some doubt about the paternity of a child. The father has two years after birth to perform a legal paternity test.
Once the child turns 18 years of age the alleged father has up to three years after the child turns 18 to establish paternity. We recommend that you research your state’s paternity establishment statutes to learn more about your state’s guidelines.