Category Archives: Paternity
The Role of DNA in Paternity Cases
With more couples choosing to skip the bonds of marriage in favor of living together in a less formal arrangement, more children are born outside of wedlock. This situation does not have the stigma formerly imposed on the children of unwed parents, but it can create some legal difficulties that need to be addressed…. Read More »
Does Conception Through Artificial Insemination Affect Paternity Rights?
Creating a child is a wondrous process that almost feels mysterious when a person considers how a child is conceived and develops until birth. The reproductive options a couple have to create a child are increasing every day, but artificial insemination is still a popular method to form an embryo when biological barriers put… Read More »
Who Wins: The Legal or Biological Father?
Recognition as a child’s legal parent, which is typically only an issue for a potential father (mothers automatically receive full custody rights following childbirth), is much more than a formality. Legal parents are the only individuals, without a court order, authorized to make decisions on a child’s behalf related to important matters, such as… Read More »
Paternity Claims Can Extend Beyond Death
Knowing who one’s parents are is a fact taken for granted by most children, but there is a distinct difference between being told a particular person is one’s mother or father, and whether the law recognizes this person as a parent. Any woman that gives birth to a child, not including surrogates, is automatically… Read More »
Undoing Paternity
Becoming a parent is no small event, and while most couples happily welcome a new child, the same amount of joy may be lacking for men unsure of the child’s paternity. Paternity, from a legal standpoint, typically refers to establishing a legal father for children born out of wedlock. Children born to married couples… Read More »
How Unwed Fathers Gain Custody Rights Over a Child
Learning that one is about to become a parent is an exciting and nerve-racking time. Anticipating the child and thinking of all the hopes and dreams a parent may have is a very emotional experience, but if the parent is an unwed father, the opportunity to participate in his child’s life is not guaranteed…. Read More »
The Importance of Establishing Paternity in Child Custody and Support Cases
It seems almost self-evident that children thrive more in homes that have mothers and fathers in place to support and guide them. Ideally, all children would have the chance to live with both parents in a loving environment, but reality is often much harsher. Couples cannot always stay together, and marriage does not automatically… Read More »
Paternity – Child Support and Timesharing
Parenting brings many pleasures as well as responsibilities. When parents are married to each other when the child is born, paternity is not typically an issue. However, when a baby is born to unmarried parents, paternity is not definite until it is established legally. If both parents agree, they can sign a form called… Read More »
Circumcision Provision in a Parenting Plan?
Heather Hironimus has recently made headlines for refusing to allow her child’s father, Dennis Nebus, to take their four-year-old son to be circumcised. The paternity suit was initiated in 2010, when the couple originally agreed, via their parenting plan, that their son would be circumcised at the father’s expense. Two years later, Hironimus changed… Read More »
High-Profile Divorce Attorney Discusses Bigamy
A recent divorce hearing involving Florida U.S. Representative Alan Grayson and his wife of 35 years Lolita Grayson captured the attention of media outlets not only because of Rep. Grayson’s vast fortune (approximately $30 million) but also because of allegations of bigamy leveled against Ms. Grayson. Ms. Grayson is seeking a part of Rep…. Read More »
