Serving Lake County ● McHenry County ● Cook County ● Kane County ● DuPage County Area Residents
Establishing paternity is an important step in your child's future, as well as the future of the father and mother. It not only establishes who is responsible for the financial support of the child, it also establishes parental rights. If you are the father of a child and have not established your parental rights, you have no right to custody or visitation. If you are the mother of a child and are seeking child support from the father, you have no right to such a claim unless the father has either voluntarily acknowledged that the child is his, or has been determined to be the father by means of a DNA test.
We can help you establish parental rights and obtain a legal determination regarding who is the father of your child.
My office has been helping mothers and fathers deal with paternity matters for many years. Ms. Goddard's knowledge of the law and experience with handling such matters can make the entire paternity process easier.
Establishing Parental Rights and Obligations
There are several ways to establish parental rights and legally determine who the father of a child is. The most simple is by having the father sign a voluntary acknowledgement of parenthood. This method works well when the father is ready and willing to take responsibility for the child. However, in some cases the man involved may deny that he is the father of the child.
In these situations, we must look to other means, such as DNA testing, to determine the identity of the father. Sometimes the potential father will agree to a DNA test; in other cases, the man wants nothing to do with testing and must be forced via court order to undergo testing. We can file a petition with the court to help make this happen.
Once the identity of the father is determined and parental rights have been established, you can take the next step which involves establishing custody, visitation and determining child support.
To discuss how we can help you with a paternity matter, please contact my firm, Law Offices of Alexandra M. Goddard at 847.382.3995 or you may send me a confidential e-mail to schedule a consultation. I offer reasonable fees and I accept major credit cards. Evening and weekend appointments are available by appointment.
