Helping Resolve Questions and Disputes About Paternity in North Texas
Paternity is not as simple a matter as it might seem. There are both legal and biological aspects to paternity. For example, in Texas, any child born within a marriage is presumed to be the husband's child.
If a child is born outside a marriage, there is technically no legal father unless paternity is established, either by consent (in layman's terms, signing the birth certificate) or through a paternity suit.
These days, biological paternity is relatively easy to establish through DNA genetic testing. These paternity tests can even be court-ordered, if necessary to establish legal responsibility for a child.
That is most often what paternity suits are about — responsibility for a child. Legal fathers have a duty to provide for their children. They will be ordered to pay child support or face severe civil and criminal consequences.
Establishing legal paternity can also be about exercising the parental rights of a father. Until paternity is established, a biological father may have no legal grounds to seek visitation or custody with the child he helped bring into the world.
Finally, paternity suits may also involve defending a parent-child relationship against unwanted intrusion. Sometimes an outside party claims paternity of a child born into a relationship and seeks to exercise parental rights to visitation.
Regardless of the nature of your particular situation, you should know that the lawyers at Pelley Law Office, L.L.P. in North Texas have the skill, experience and discretion to protect your rights and interests.
Contact Pelley Law Office, L.L.P.
We invite you to contact our offices to schedule a free, confidential and informative consultation with an attorney who has extensive experience in paternity matters. Do not wait, as timing is often critical as to how you proceed in Family Law. Call 972-608-0335 or 903-813-4778 to speak to one of our experienced paternity attorneys today.
