When people think of the word paternity they often think of people going on talk shows to find out who the father of their child is because they have slept around a lot. When discussing paternity in the legal sense, however, it is very very different. When married couples decide to end their relationship they go through a divorce and part of that divorce is deciding who gets custody of the kids and what visitation will be like. However, if the parties are not married and they decide to end their relationship then they can’t get a divorce to take care of their child custody issues because they are not married, and that is why the legal system has paternity actions.
What is a Paternity Action?
As the name states part of a paternity is establishing who the mother and the father of the child are, in fact its more establishing who the father is for obvious reason. In Utah if a couple is married then the husband is automatically presumed the father, however, if the parties are not married then the parties must establish the paternity which may be as simple as both parties signing an affidavit saying that the father is actually the father, or it can come down to a DNA test. The other part of a paternity action is the more important part for most parties, and that is dealing with the issues involving the kids such as support, custody, visitation, health care, and more.
Weber County Family Law Attorney | Helping People in Every Kind of Situation
If you have just split with your ex and you have a kid together but were not married and you would like to see or establish some sort of custody agreement then call Ogden Divorce Law today. Our team of lawyers can help you protect your parental rights and will fight to get you the custody or visitation that you want. Call or email us today for more information.