Types of Family Law Cases We Handle
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Need a paternity judgment in Miami, FL? You need the help of a Miami paternity attorney.
When a woman in Florida is married and gives birth to a child, the woman’s husband is legally assumed to be the father of the child. However, many individuals are unmarried when they have children. In those situations, establishing paternity can be an important first step. It allows for a father to have his name on the birth certificate and to convey certain public or private benefits on behalf of a child, such as health or life insurance or veterans benefits.
Establishing paternity also provides a means to secure child support orders and court-ordered parenting time with the child. If you are a parent who wishes to establish the paternity of your child, an experienced Miami family law attorney can help you understand the process.
When Does Legal Paternity Need to Be Established in Florida?
Legal paternity can be established at any time before the child’s 18th birthday. However, fathers are encouraged to establish paternity as soon as possible after a child is born in order to provide important information and benefits to their child, including:
- Information about their family medical history
- Support from both parents, including medical support and child support
- Health and life insurance or government benefits from the Veterans Administration or Social Security
- The opportunity for the child to have a meaningful relationship with their father, including parenting time
The Difference Between Biological and Legal Paternity
A biological father is defined as an individual who is related by blood to the child and whose genes they inherited. The legal father is an individual who has acquired legal responsibility for financially supporting the child and making decisions on their behalf.
One can become a legal father by having a court order determining that they’re a legal father, by marrying the mother and legitimizing the child, or through step parent adoption.
How to Establish Paternity
There are five ways that paternity can be established in Florida, including:
- At birth, if the parents are married, the child is assumed to belong to the father, and no further action is necessary to prove paternity.
- At birth or at any time before the child’s 18th birthday, if the parents both sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity.
- After birth, if the mother is unmarried at the time of the birth but later marries the child’s father, paternity can be established when applying for the marriage license.
- After birth, paternity can be determined by a judge or court, with or without a genetic test.
- After birth, paternity can also be determined through a support order, with evidence of paternity determined through a genetic test. If it is determined that the alleged father is, in fact, the child’s biological father, an Administrative Order of Paternity will be issued, establishing paternity in a legally enforceable manner.
Establishing paternity does not establish all of the legal rights and responsibilities of being a father, though. This only happens through marriage with the mother or through a court order.
Can Paternity Be Disestablished?
If an unmarried father agrees to sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity, he will be conveyed certain legal rights and responsibilities of a father to his child. However, if at some point the father realizes that he is not actually the child’s father, he will remain legally and financially responsible for the child until he goes to court and obtains an order disestablishing paternity.
How a Miami Paternity Attorney Can Help
One of the most important aspects of a prenup agreement is to avoid a contentious legal battle if the marriage should end and to have a say on how assets will be distributed. Unfortunately, the preparation of many couples goes to waste when a divorce occurs and it is discovered that the prenup is not legally valid. A Miami prenup lawyer can help individuals who are planning to marry to have the candid conversations necessary to create an agreement that is specific and enforceable.
A prenup attorney can also assist couples who failed to draft an agreement before marriage to create other types of marital agreements — such as a postnuptial agreement — that can resolve the same type of matters as the prenup. If both parties determine that it is time to amend the prenup provisions, or one party wants out of the prenup while the other doesn’t, a lawyer can also assist with those matters.
At Vasquez de Lara Law Group, we strive to be the best family law firm in Miami and have been recognized by reputable organizations, like Expertise, Super Lawyers, and Justia, as a trusted and respected presence in our community. We can help you draft your prenup and get your marriage started off on the right foot. Contact us today for a consultation.
