Children, Parental Rights, & Paternity Services

Establishment of Paternity and Parental Rights

When a child is born to parents who are not married at the time of birth, the father’s legal rights are not “automatically” established. Contrary to popular belief, even when a “father” signs the birth certificate and his name appears as the father, this alone does not legally establish paternity.

Paternity is the legal establishment of the parent – child relationship and, with few exceptions, a paternity action is necessary to establish certain fundamental legal rights and responsibilities, including payment of child support, for both parents. Beyond establishing this legal parental relationship, establishing paternity in court also provides for determination of the benefits and burdens of parenthood.

The Department of Revenue (DOR) can also, either through an administrative proceeding or a circuit court action, bring an action to establish paternity on behalf of a mother or father. Typically, the Department of Revenue will institute an administrative proceeding on behalf of the parent with whomever the child is primarily living, and also seek to establish child support to be paid by one parent to the other. However, the Department of Revenue does not request the Court to determine time sharing (custody/visitation) unless the parties agree, and even then, a full establishment of timesharing and other parental responsibilities are not fully addressed in a Department of Revenue action.

Although Florida statutes establish child support guidelines, the guidelines are based on a formula that includes determination of the parties’ net incomes, the costs of both childcare and health insurance as well as the number of overnights the child spends with each parent. You should seek the guidance of an experienced family law attorney to ensure that the calculation of support is accurate, whether you will be the payer of the support or the recipient of the support for your child.

Frequently after an unmarried couple has a child, they continue to live together in a loving family relationship, and, since the “father” is on the birth certificate, neither party ever institutes an action in court to establish paternity. While living together with the child, a court will not establish child support, as there is a presumption that both parents together are contributing to the child’s needs. However, even if you are in such a relationship, you should still establish paternity. To do so both mother and father must:

• Sign either an affidavit acknowledging paternity or sign a Stipulation of Paternity, and file same with the clerk of Court in the county where they reside; or
• Sign an affidavit acknowledging paternity that is properly notarized or sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity in front of two witnesses under penalty of perjury.

However, as with a DOR action, a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity does not establish timesharing or a n enforceable determination of parental responsibility.

So, in the absence of an establishment of paternity, a biological mother can leave the city, state and even the country without consent or knowledge of the “father,” and the “father” can neither stop her from leaving nor ask the court to have the child picked up from the mother and returned to him, until he has established paternity.

It is so much easier and cost efficient to amicably establish paternity once a child is born and before there is discourse between the parents.

More and more fathers are taking the lead in filing paternity actions to ensure they are legally entitled to have a role in the decision making in their child’s life through the establishment of a parenting plan and the establish a timesharing schedule.

With unmarried parents, paternity is the first step in establishing parental rights for both parents. If you have a child or believe you may have a child born outside of a marriage, mother or father, you should seek legal advice to know your rights and determine how to best establish your rights before acknowledging or admitting paternity. If you are about to become a mother or father or you are already a parent, or have questions about whether you are a father, The Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. is here to assist you in protecting your parental rights.

Call us at 954 – 316 – 3496, email us at info@vovalaw.com or click here to get answer to your paternity questions.