Establishing paternity can be voluntary or require court involvement. It’s important to establish paternity as soon as possible to avoid delays in child support. If the father is uncooperative, the mother can contact child support enforcement to locate the father and request a paternity test. If the alleged father refuses the test, the court may assume paternity.
The ease of the process of establishing paternity depends on the father being willing to acknowledge it voluntarily, so the best tips for doing so include getting the father to agree to establish paternity through an affidavit at the time the child is born. If the father is uncooperative, establishing paternity will require going to the courts and subjecting the alleged father to a paternity test. It is important to attempt to establish paternity as soon as possible, especially if the mother is seeking to return child support, because it is up to the judge’s discretion whether or not to award support and the judge is not likely to order it for someone who delayed. the process of establishing paternity
If the father is willing to voluntarily acknowledge paternity, then all he has to do is sign a paternity declaration. This is sometimes called an acknowledgment of paternity. If he is not present at the birth, he can draw up an affidavit acknowledging paternity of the child at any time before the child comes of age.
If the father does not voluntarily acknowledge paternity or cannot be found, the mother should contact the local child support enforcement office. There, an agent will first discuss the trial with the mother and draw up an affidavit indicating the identity of the alleged father. The organization will then attempt to locate the father through government agencies. After the alleged father has been reached, he will be asked to voluntarily acknowledge paternity through a paternity affidavit.
If the alleged father objects to a paternity finding at that point, the mother should apply for a court order requiring him to undergo a paternity test as soon as possible and no later than the child’s coming of age. You could refuse the test, but then you run the risk that the court might decide through other evidence that you are the father in absentia, because this process almost assumes paternity if the alleged father refuses. If the father takes the paternity test, he will have a certain amount of time, such as 60 days, to dispute the results if they come back indicating that he is the father. After this period of time, he will be legally considered the father by operation of law.
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