Paternity Law in Florida

In the state of Florida, paternity testing is often part of the process of becoming a legal guardian of a minor child. Children need to have a legal father, and the state of Florida takes the process of proving who the father of a child is very seriously. This is for many reasons, not least of which is the potential medical history that the child should know and access to benefits that are provided by the biological father.

If you need to establish paternity in the state of Florida for a minor child, we can help. The St. Petersburg family law lawyers at Lopez Law has years of experience in these kinds of cases. Establishing paternity correctly is important, and we can help you take care of this essential legal process with ease.

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Is There a Difference Between Biological Fathers and Legal Fathers?

The biological father of a child and the child’s legal father might not be the same person. A biological father can choose to surrender parenting rights or might never seek them. If a person wishes to become the legal father of the child and assume the rights and responsibilities of this role for a child, it is possible to do so. A prime example of this would be stepfathers who become the legal parents of children that they are helping raise that they are not biologically related to.

Marriage, adoption, or court ruling can establish someone who is not the biological father of a child as the legal father of the child. Many children consider their stepfathers to be their legal parents before the law establishes these rights for that parent. This process helps to provide stability for children who do not have a relationship with their biological father.

If you have never married the person that you have had a child with, but you still want to be recognized as the legal parent of the child, this process can be undertaken. The law will allow you to take a paternity test to identify yourself correctly as the child’s biological parent. You can then choose to apply for parenting time and patenting rights as determined under Florida state law.

The team at Lopez Law is happy to help you to navigate this process to ensure that you and your child are able to have a relationship that provides stability for the child. Being able to be there for a child that you have fathered is ideal, and many people opt to follow the state-mandated testing process to ensure that they are correctly identified as the father of a child, even if they do not live with the mother.

What if There is No Dispute About Who the Father is?

If there is no disagreement between the mother and father about who is the father of the child, there is a document that can be signed that indicates who the mother and father of a child are. This is the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form.  Both parties will need to sign the form and state under oath that they are aware that the form gives the father legal rights and responsibilities for the child in question. The father who is named on this form will also need to work with the court to establish a parenting plan, and they will need to pay child support in most cases.

Once the form has been signed, it will not be binding or final for sixty days. Once this period of time has elapsed, the form cannot be rejected or set aside. This form can take the place of genetic testing to prove that someone is the father of a child. This is why it cannot be easily overturned in a court of law at a later date.

Parents who are uncertain about whether or not to use this form to establish paternity can reach out to the team at Lopez Law. We will be happy to explain the benefits of the use of this form and also explain the differences between establishing parental rights via genetic testing and via the use of this signed document. There are pros and cons to both methods, and you will want to be aware of the ramifications of using these processes to establish parenting rights for your child.

Paternity Based on Marriage or Legitimation

Another process which can establish paternity in the state of Florida is marriage. If a man is married to a woman at the time that a child is born, he will be the legal father of the child. This is true even if the parties were not married when the child was conceived. It also means that the actual biological status of the child is not in question at the time of the birth and does not need to be proven for the law to recognize a woman’s husband as the father of a child.

If the woman and man who have had a child break up or get divorced after the birth of the child, the process of legitimation can be followed to establish paternity rights. This process updates the birth certificate of the child to indicate that the legal father of the child is the person who was married to a woman at the time that the child was born.t

This process might require backing done by genetic testing to be allowed in the state of Florida. Genetic testing is quite common in this state when it comes to questions of paternity. The Florida Department of Revenue offers free genetic testing to establish paternity, and it provides all the information that might be needed about the process on its website.

In some cases, a trip to court can be prevented by using genetic testing to verify who the father of a child is once and for all. All parties must be willing to engage in this kind of testing to prove the parentage of a child, however. If the mother does not allow the child to be part of the testing process, there can be no genetic testing proof introduced to verify the father of the child.

The team at Lopez Law can bring the order for genetic testing before a judge is necessary. This can compel the mother to allow testing to be done to establish the paternity of the child. The mother of the child can also petition the court to deny the father paternity rights even if testing is completed and verifies that the child is biologically related to the man in question.

No matter which parent comes to us with the need for legal support, we can help. Lopes Law has years of experience working on paternity cases, and we can help you seek the legal resolution that will allow you to take the best possible care of your child.

How Are Paternity Actions Handled in Court?

If the parents of a child do not agree about who the father of the child is, it is possible to take a paternity action before the court. This process will end up establishing paternity of the child with the help of a judge. Disagreements about the father of a child are more common than you might think, and there are many laws on the books that are used to help clarify these disputes in court.

Paternity actions can be brought to the attention of the court by the following parties:

• The mother of the child
• The “alleged” father- this person might only believe that he is the father or the mother could have stated verbally that she believes that he is the father
• A legal representative who is acting on behalf of a minor child
• The Florida Department of Revenue

Paternity cases do not have to be completed before the child’s birth, but the court will not be able to enter a final order until the child has been born and submitted to genetic testing in most cases. Someone who is representing a minor child does not have to be biologically related to bring a court action in these cases, either. There are situations where a family friend or another party has been caring for a child and wishes to protect the child’s best interests with the help of a court of law.

Child support orders are not established only through the paternity process. There are other ways that you can petition the court for custodial rights of a child or parenting time of a child. There are many situations where the legal father of the child has not been established, but the presumed father still has parenting rights and custodial time with the child.

Ultimately, establishing the legal paternity of a child is always in the child’s best interest for a host of reasons, but this is not always the process by which legal parenting rights or co-parenting agreements are created.

What if I Learn That I Am Not the Father of a Child?

If you find out that you are not actually the biological father of a child, it is possible to challenge the ruling of legal paternity rights that was put into place. This requires the help of an experienced team of legal experts in many cases. Most paternity cases are not overturned because this would establish a precedent that the state of Florida does not wish to have connected with parenting rights. However, in cases where the father has a reasonable expectation of finding out that they are not the father of a child when genetic testing is performed, these rulings can often be overturned.

No one should have to pay child support for a child that is not their legal child, and they should not be brought into long-term contact with a child that they no longer have to support as the child grows up. The welfare of the child is often at stake in these cases, and establishing correct parental rights is ideal.

Obviously, genetic testing is almost never involved in these cases until the mother indicates that the legal father is not actually the biological child. Fathers who have agreed that they are the legal father of a child by mutual consent or marriage are the most likely to find themselves in this position. In these cases, those who have been told that they are the father of a child and wish to continue to share parenting rights with the mother will have to petition for a different kind of custodial rights. This can be complicated if the actual biological father has been identified and also wants to have parenting rights for the child.

It is easy to see why these cases require the help of a legal team with a lot of experience in paternity law in the state of Florida. Whether you wish to continue to exercise parental rights and spend time with the child in question or not, the correct paternity of the child will usually need to be established before additional parenting rights can be granted to anyone else involved in the child’s life.

The Goal of the Florida Courts

The courts in Florida always attempt to be mindful of the needs of the child or children involved in these kinds of paternity cases above all other factors. The well-being and needs of the child will typically come before any other considerations involved in these cases. Whether you are the legal father of a child or the biological father of a child involved in a paternity case, the law will attempt to look out for the needs of the child first.

This might mean that you will not be allowed to continue to have contact with the child or that you will not be granted parenting rights of any kind related to the child. While this is not a typical outcome, there are cases where this is necessary for the child’s safety and health.

The Florida Department of Revenue cannot file cases for paternity on behalf of people who just want to be considered a child’s father. There are various requirements that must be met before the department will consider bringing forward this kind of case. This protects children from being affected by disagreements about their paternity.

The desires of the adults involved in these kinds of paternity cases are considered, but the judge will always default to consider the well-being of the child first. The team at Lopez Law is familiar with the processes that establish paternity in the state of Florida and can help to advise both the mother and father of a child about the potential consequences and outcomes related to each kind of parenting plan and paternity outcome that might be sought in a court of law.

Working With a  Skilled Lawyer in Your Paternity Case Matters

If you need assistance with a paternity case in the state of Florida, Lopez Law can help. These cases can be quite straightforward, or they can be very complicated. In either situation, we will look out for you as our client and help you to seek a favorable outcome that is beneficial to the child involved in the case. From establishing paternity rights to preventing someone from getting parenting rights that they should not have, we can help you protect your child or children from harm and secure a better future for them.

Contact us today for a consultation. We are happy to discuss your paternity case with you and help you decide how best to proceed.