Paternity Hearings

Paternity hearings are designed to determine the paternity of a child. If paternity is in question, a paternity hearing can provide the knowledge of who a child’s birth father is. This information has some significant legal consequences and thus it is worth approaching paternity testing with extreme care. It is advised that you speak to a family law attorney before taking any steps to determine a child’s paternity.

Establishing Paternity

Establishing paternity is a crucial step if a child was conceived before marriage. Even if both parties are certain of paternity, the father will have no visitation rights if paternity is not determined. This applies even if the parties were subsequently married. For a father that wishes to remain in contact with his children, establishing paternity is a necessary step. Without establishing paternity, a child’s mother has no claim to child support. Child support can ease the burden of single parenting quite substantially. It can provide valuable financial assistance for things like school fees, food, clothing and any of the other expenses that arise while raising a child. Once paternity has been established, child support can be arranged.

Child Support Expenses

For a father entering a paternity hearing, the fact that they may have to pay child support can be a rather daunting prospect. Child support is a rather hefty expense. It usually amounts to 20% of net monthly resources for the first child with an additional 5% added for each additional child. If a child has special needs, higher levels of support might be demanded. Child support is paid until a child reaches the age of eighteen or is married. If the child is physically or mentally disabled, child support may continue indefinitely. Child support can be backdated which means that the father would have to pay child support from the time of separation. This can be an extremely heavy financial burden.

After Paternity is Established

Once paternity has been established, the full force of the law protects child support payments. Nonpayment of child support is a felony and repeated non-payers can expect punishment. On the lowest end of the punishment spectrum is the garnishment of wages. When wages are garnished, child support payments are extracted before the father has received his wages. They will also have to live with people in their workplace knowing that they have not been paying their child support. This can be quite embarrassing but it is designed to get money to where it is needed. If the father continues to withhold payment, they may lose their business license, their driver’s license or have property seized. The goal of these punishments is to give the non-payer the proper motivation to make payment. If these steps fail, they may be jailed. Usually, jail is a last resort as it leaves them unable to earn a reasonable wage.

Why Fathers Prove Paternity

There are very good reasons for a father to want to prove paternity. Establishing paternity establishes his rights as a parent. If the father has been involved in raising the child or children then establishing paternity allows him to maintain the relationship following the breakdown of the relationship. The downside of this is the expense that child support entails. If one considers the benefits that child support offers children, however, it is hardly a downside. Studies have shown that children whose custodial parents receive regular child support payments experience a great deal of benefit beyond the obvious financial rewards. Such children tend to perform better in school than those that do not receive child support and experience less behavioral problems as well.

Testing for Paternity

There are both prenatal and postnatal paternity tests that can be carried out. With prenatal testing, it is possible to establish paternity before a child is born. This is accomplished by amniocentesis testing where a small sample of amniotic fluid is collected in the 14th to 20th week of pregnancy. It carries a small risk of harming the fetus and can cause a miscarriage. It is possible to establish paternity earlier with chorionic villus sampling. Chorionic villi are made up of the same genetic material as the fetus and thus can be used for the purposes of DNA testing. Postnatal testing is a far simpler process. Blood samples, hair samples and cheek swab samples are all suitable for establishing paternity.

Mediation for Paternity and Child Support

With paternity established, mediation may become a necessity. Child support payments will need to be calculated and visitation schedules drawn up. The father is now a legal parent of the child and has the rights that any parent would have. If they wish to maintain a relationship with their child or children, they are now able. They can also, in theory, contest custody of their children.

Consult Your Family Law Attorney

It is worth consulting your family law attorney before considering paternity testing. Both parties need to be fully aware of the ramifications involved with testing. In addition, the costs of paternity testing can vary widely depending on where the tests are carried out. Your family law attorney will be able to point you in the direction of the best location for your needs. Parental testing not only opens the door to child support, it opens the door to parental rights and allows fathers to be parents to their children even after divorce.

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