Three Reasons You Need To Establish Paternity Through The Courts
Posted on: 26 December 2018
If you are an unmarried woman and are pregnant, it is important that you contact a family attorney so a paternity suit can be filed against the father of your baby and child support can be court ordered. It is not something that you may want to do, especially if you are on good terms with your baby's father. However, there are good reasons for doing this as soon as the baby is born.
To get all of the money you are entitled to
If the father of your child offers to support his baby, it may not be the amount you are entitled to. Family courts have a formula that is used to determine monthly child support. There is very little judgment involved. However, the more money a man makes, the more money he will owe for child support. For this reason alone, you need to have a family court determine the amount of child support. Fathers with good incomes are likely to provide less financial support than they are legally required to. If your baby's father is married, you are still entitled to child support. His marital status will not matter when the court calculates the amount owed.
To Have legal recourse if necessary
Unless the child support is court ordered, you will have no legal means to collect the money owed if the father decides to stop paying. You would first have to establish paternity, but often a father who stops paying support can move away and disappear. If child support has already been established by the courts and the father stops paying, you can have his wages garnished. It is only a matter of locating the baby's father. As long as he is working, he can be located and a court order for wage garnishment can be enforced.
To qualify for government benefits
Often young mothers are living below the poverty line. If this is the case for you, there are many benefits that you may qualify for. This can be especially important if the father is no longer in the picture and is not paying child support. Most programs designed to assist mothers will require information about the father. If you already have a court order for child support, even when the father is not paying, you are likely to still qualify for the program.
Paternity and child support are usually established together. You, your baby, and the presumed father will need to take a DNA test. If the man is the father of your child, a family court will declare him to be the father. At the same time, the amount of child support will be established. A family attorney can guide you through the process.
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