Establishing Paternity: Protecting Your Rights As A Father

When a child is born to unmarried parents, establishing paternity is a crucial step in securing legal rights and responsibilities for the father. Paternity, or the legal recognition of fatherhood, grants fathers the opportunity to play an active role in their child’s life and ensures the child has access to the benefits of having both parents involved.

At Cervone Law P.C., our attorney understands the importance of establishing paternity for both fathers and children. With over 20 years of combined experience in the legal field, we provide knowledgeable and compassionate representation to clients in Phoenix navigating paternity matters. We are committed to protecting fathers’ rights and helping families establish a strong legal foundation for their children’s future.

What Does Establishing Paternity Mean?

Establishing paternity creates a legal relationship between a father and his child. This legal recognition is essential for several reasons:

• Custody and parenting time: Establishing paternity allows fathers to seek custody or parenting time orders, ensuring they can be actively involved in their child’s life.
• Child support: Paternity establishment allows for determining child support obligations, ensuring the child receives financial support from both parents.
• Inheritance rights: A legal father has the right to include his child in his will and ensure the child receives inheritance benefits.
• Medical history and benefits: Establishing paternity provides the child with access to their father’s medical history, which can be crucial for identifying potential health risks. It also allows the child to be eligible for any benefits the father may have such as health insurance or social security benefits.

Establishing paternity is not just about legal rights and obligations; it’s about building a strong foundation for a loving and lasting father-child relationship.

How Is Paternity Established In Arizona?

There are several ways to establish paternity in Arizona:

• Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity: Both parents can sign a legal document acknowledging the father’s paternity. This is often done at the hospital after the child’s birth.
• Court order: A court can order genetic testing to determine the biological father if there is a paternity dispute. Once paternity is confirmed, the court will issue an order establishing paternity.
• Marriage: If the parents marry after the child’s birth, the husband is automatically presumed to be the legal father.

Our experienced attorney can guide you through establishing paternity and other family law situations.

Addressing Your Paternity Questions

We understand that you may have questions about paternity and fathers’ rights in Arizona. Here are answers to some common inquiries:

What rights do fathers have in Arizona?

Arizona law recognizes the vital role fathers play in their children’s lives and grants them equal rights in family law matters. This means fathers have the same rights as mothers when it comes to seeking custody, parenting time and legal decision-making authority.

Here are some key rights that fathers have in Arizona:

• Custody and parenting time: Fathers have the right to seek legal decision-making and parenting time, which outlines the schedule for when the child spends time with each parent. This includes the right to request joint custody, where both parents share decision-making responsibilities and parenting time, or sole custody, where one parent has primary physical custody and potentially sole legal decision-making.
• Legal decision-making: Fathers have the right to be involved in important decisions about their child’s life such as education, health care, religious upbringing and extracurricular activities. They can seek joint legal decision-making, where both parents share in these decisions, or sole legal decision-making, where one parent has the authority to make these decisions.
• Child support: Fathers have the right to request child support from the other parent to meet the child’s financial needs. They are also responsible for paying child support if they are not the primary custodial parent.
• Paternity establishment: Unmarried fathers have the right to establish paternity of their child, which grants them legal recognition as the father and allows them to exercise their parental rights.
• Protection from discrimination: Arizona courts are prohibited from discriminating against fathers based on gender when making custody and parenting time decisions. The focus is on the best interests of the child, not on traditional gender roles.

It’s important to remember that fathers’ rights come with responsibilities. Fathers have a legal and moral obligation to provide for their children’s physical, emotional and financial well-being.

How is paternity established in Arizona?

The father, mother, guardian or conservator (and, depending upon the circumstances, a public welfare agency or the state of Arizona) can file a petition to establish paternity with the clerk of the court. The petition can be filed during the mother’s pregnancy or after the child is born.

Can a mother refuse to put the father on a child’s birth certificate?

A mother can legally refuse to put the father’s name on the birth certificate if they are not married at the time of the child’s birth. This decision is typically up to the mother, as unmarried fathers are not automatically recognized as legal parents until paternity is established.

Protecting Your Rights, Securing Your Child’s Future

If you are seeking to establish paternity or have questions about fathers’ rights in Phoenix, contact our lawyer at Cervone Law P.C. today. Our dedicated attorney is committed to providing effective and compassionate legal representation to clients throughout Arizona. Call us at 602-858-6329 or visit our contact page to schedule an appointment and discuss your case.