How Can You Establish Paternity In Tampa, Florida?

A number of familial conflicts center on issues related to paternity and who is considered the legal father of a child. To resolve these issues, it is imperative that a father establishes their paternity. By doing so, they, and their children, will be granted a number of important rights.

 What Is Paternity? 

Paternity is a term that refers to an individual’s status as a child’s legal father.

A legal father has certain rights that fathers without established paternity do not have. The same is true of children whose father is not considered their legal father.

Within Tampa, many fathers are considered legal fathers and, as such, have been granted paternity. But, many fathers have not established paternity. As a result of this, many fathers lack certain rights that they, and their children, are entitled to.

What Rights Does Paternity Grant? 

Paternity grants fathers the following rights:

• The right to obtain a child support order.
• The right to obtain a court order for a time-sharing plan.
• The right to have their name on the child’s birth certificate.

Both of these rights enable fathers to:

• Spend time with their children.
• Take care of their children.
• Receive the financial support they need to take care of their children.

A father who does not have paternity will have a far more difficult time accomplishing the above.

Outside of the rights that paternity grants fathers, a father who establishes paternity will have granted their children the following rights:

• Access to the healthcare that their father’s health insurance plan allows for.
• Access to the life insurance plan their father has signed.
• Access to the government benefits their father receives.
• Access to any potential inheritance their father leaves behind.
• Access to financial support from their father.

Each one of these rights makes it much easier for a father to support their child.

How Can You Establish Paternity? 

A father can establish paternity in three major ways:

• Being married to the mother, when a child is born.
• Both parents voluntarily establish paternity.
• Through an order for genetic testing.

Regarding the first option, if a father is married to the mother of a child then, when that child is born, paternity will be established automatically. But, if the parents are unmarried, then they can voluntarily establish paternity, using the second option.

Regarding the third option, a father can obtain an order for genetic testing. Assuming the genetic testing comes back with a result that establishes the father’s paternity, an administrative order will be set-up, allowing that father to become their child’s legal father.

A father cannot file any paternity actions after their child turns eighteen. For this reason, if a father would like to determine their paternity, they should do so as soon as they possibly can.

 Speak With A Tampa Paternity Lawyer Today 

A wealth of significant benefits can, and will, come from establishing paternity. Speak with a Tampa paternity lawyer today and we will assist you in establishing paternity.

Sources: 

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0742/0742.html

floridahealth.gov/certificates/certificates/birth/_documents/DH_432_Ack_Paternity.pdf