Paternity

The father of a child born out of marriage can petition the court to establish and enforce his rights as a father. Some of these rights include custody, visitation and the right to support the minor child.

The process involves filing a Petition to Establish a Parental Relationship along with filing an Order to Show Cause seeking orders for these rights. A DNA test can be done to prove whether or not the father is the biological father of the child. The court can make temporary orders regarding custody and visitation of the minor child once paternity has been established. These orders can include custody, visitation and support for the minor child.

Protect your rights as a parent and contact the experienced attorneys at the Law Firm of Wallin and Klarich. Call our firm now at 1-888-749-7428 and schedule an appointment with our experienced Los Angeles County family law attorneys to discuss your rights and options and also visit our website at www.wkfamilylaw.com.

An Ontario woman has made headlines recently after claiming that her four children were sired by actor Keanu Reeves. The 46 year old woman sued the actor, claiming that he owed her child support for her 4 children, all of whom are in their 20s. The woman claimed that she and Reeves were childhood friends, meanwhile Reeves denies even knowing who the woman is.

Reeves attorneys have advised him to take a DNA Paternity test to put any rumors or doubt over whether he is the father of the children to rest. In her suit against Reeves, the Ontario woman has asked for $3 million per month in spousal support (retroactive from November 2006) and $150,000 per month in child support (retroactive from June 1988). That adds up to about $140 million.

DNA Paternity tests are laboratory tests that examine the genetic material that a child inherited from his or her biological parents. The DNA test will compare the material and calculate the probability that a certain man fathered a certain child. DNA testing is believed to establish a father’s paternity with over 99 % accuracy and has been a major breakthrough in establishing paternity. They are used to not only establish paternity, but also to challenge paternity, as they will be used in this instance with Mr. Reeves.

If you are seeking to establish paternity or challenge paternity tests, please call an experienced Los Angeles family law attorney at Wallin & Klarich. The laws that apply to paternity testing are complex. We can help guide you through the complicated legal process and get you the help and support you need. Call us today for a case evaluation at 1-888-749-7428.

Source:http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=14951&count=0

A story out of Mississippi offers insight into the recent trend of Human Services Departments using new methods to inspire “deadbeat dads” to pay their child support payments. Mississippi’s Department of Human Services’(DHS) website, for instance, has pictures of people wanted for failing to pay child support. It is part of DHS’s push to hold Mississippi fathers accountable for their children. The website has gone a step farther, however, offering free Paternity tests to Dads who question whether the child is theirs or not.

The article explains that DHS is paying for DNA tests, which can cost between $300 to $500. It’s also covering attorney fees that can increase the costs of testing to more than $1,000. The costs and fees will be waived on scheduled days through the end of the month, which wraps up the federal government’s fiscal year.

Moves like this one are not unique to areas like Mississippi. Child Support Services organizations across the country are stepping up their efforts to insure that all children are afforded the benefits of having parents who are financially responsible for their well being.

Wallin & Klarich represents custodial and non-custodial parents in all areas of California child support law. We can help with matters relating to the enforcement of current child support orders. We can also make sure that your children get the financial support they need and that your income and financial obligations are correctly and completely represented in court. We also have extensive experience modifying child support arrangements to accommodate new circumstances.

We know parents in a child support case have a difficult job to do, balancing their personal and financial needs with the best interests of their children. At Wallin & Klarich, our attorneys are dedicated to helping make this transition as smooth as possible for our clients and seeking the best possible outcome for their child support dispute. With sixteen attorneys in five Southern California counties, we can be there when you need us, wherever you are. For a consultation with an experienced family law attorney, call us at 1-888-749-7428.

Source:http://www2.wjtv.com/jtv/news/local/article/dhs_offering_free_paternity_tests/20038/

The Family and Medical Leave Act insures that covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for any of the following reasons:

• for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
• for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
• to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
• to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

The act does not apply to all employers, however. There are certain criteria that must be met for these ‘benefits’ to apply, namely:

• the employee must have worked for the employer for over a year
• in that time they must have worked 1250 hours over a 12-month span
• the business must have at least 50 employees

Paternity and paternity leave extends to those instances where the couple having a child are not married. However, for this to be valid, paternity must be established. Paternity is the legal identification of the father of a child. Once legal paternity is established, the acknowledged father will gain his legal rights to his child as well as take on responsibilities for supporting his child.

If you are seeking to establish paternity or challenge paternity tests, please call an experienced Southern California paternity attorney at Wallin & Klarich. The laws that apply to paternity testing are complex. We can help guide you through the complicated legal process and get you the help and support you need. Call us today at 1-888-749-7428 for a free consultation.

Source:http://www.fox59.com/lifestyle/parenting/sns-parenting-paternity-leave,0,1886181.story

A recent latimes.com article explains that the company Genelex is offering a 10% discount on its home DNA tests, including California paternity tests. The discount coincided with Father’s Day.

The home paternity test compares the DNA of a father and a child and retails for $400. If there is a question as to who the father of a child is, a second man can be added to the test for $200. While the tests are not admissible in court, the company does offer court admissible tests for additional cost.

The Genelex website indicates that the legally admissible version of their DNA test is useful for all legal purposes including child custody and support, social security, insurance, military, adoption, inheritance, tribal and immigration rights and benefits. The test includes notarized legal document issued according to AABB Parentage Testing Committee accreditation standards and including full disclosure of test results.

With so many children being born out of wedlock in today’s society, it is no wonder that a service like this exists. California paternity tests can be powerful tools in an individual’s efforts to establish parentage and secure child support or child custody. Paternity may become a contentious matter that goes to court when a couple does not agree on who the father of their child is.

While services like this can be useful in helping to establish paternity, they are only a small part of the puzzle. A qualified, experienced California paternity attorney can help put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, insuring the best possible result for you and your growing family.

If you are seeking to establish paternity or challenge paternity tests, please call an experienced Southern California paternity attorney at Wallin & Klarich. The laws that apply to paternity testing are complex. We can help guide you through the complicated legal process and get you the help and support you need. Call us today at 888-749-7428 for a case evaluation.

Recent world news headlines regarding a high profile politician have many people discussing paternity claims lately. The President of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, is facing a political crisis as several women have stepped forward in recent weeks claiming that he sired their children. What makes the claims all the more shocking is that Lugo was a Roman Catholic bishop at the time of conception.

From a recent article on guardian.co.uk:
“The story broke two weeks ago when lawyers for Viviana Carrillo, 26, filed a paternity suit. On Monday lawyers for a second woman, Benigna Leguizamon, a 26-year-old soap seller, said Lugo was the father of her six-year-old boy, and on Wednesday Damiana Moran, a 39-year-old divorcee, said Lugo was the father of her 16-month-old son, Juan Pablo, named after the late pope.”

The paternity attorney representing Carrillo is asking for a DNA test to establish parentage. It is unclear at this point as to what type of child support she will be seeking.

DNA tests are an accepted scientific method of determining paternity. These laboratory tests examine the genetic material that a child inherited from his or her biological parents. The DNA test will compare the material and calculate the probability that a certain man fathered a certain child. DNA testing is believed to establish a father’s paternity with over 99 % accuracy and has been a major breakthrough in establishing paternity.

While not all of us have the bright light of the world media following our family law issues, establishing or challenging parentage is still of vital importance to the life of the would-be father and the child in question. The stakes are at their highest, especially when you consider that paternity governs such important matters as rights to visitation and child support. If you are seeking to establish paternity or challenge paternity tests, please call 888-749-7428 for a case evaluation with an experienced Southern California paternity attorney at Wallin & Klarich.

As reported in an article, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has a program called the “Federal Parent Locator Service”. The service was established in 1975 under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and is meant to work as an assembly of systems operated by the OCSE. It is also intended to assist States in locating noncustodial parents, putative fathers, and custodial parties for the establishment of paternity and child support obligations, as well as the enforcement and modification of orders for child support, custody and visitation. The FPLS also assists Federal and State agencies identify over-payments, fraud, and assists with assessing benefits. Among the many federal and state agencies, directories and programs that are included in the Federal Parent Locator Service, are:

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Social Security Administration (SSA),
• Veterans Affairs (VA),
• The Department of Defense (DoD),
• National Security Agency (NSA),
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
• The National Directory of New Hires (NDNH): a central repository of employment, unemployment insurance, and wage data from State Directories of New Hires, State Workforce Agencies, and Federal agencies.
• The Federal Case Registry (FCR): a national database that contains information on individuals in child support cases and child support orders.
• The Federal Offset Program (FOP): a program that collects past-due child support payments from the tax refund of parents who have been ordered to pay child support.
• The Passport Denial Program (PPD): a program that works with the Secretary of State in denying passports of any person certified owing child support debt greater than $2,500.

In the United States today, nearly one-third of all children are growing up in single-parent homes. Of all the families owed child support, only half receive the full amount due, and a quarter receives nothing at all. Programs like the Federal Parent Locator Service are valuable assets in assuring that all children have the support of both their mothers and fathers.

The obligation of child support is one that our government takes very seriously. If you or someone you know owes child support debt or arrears, or is owed this money, contacting a skilled Orange County family law attorney at Wallin & Klarich can help get you on the path towards collecting or paying the monies owed. Our attorneys can help those who have arrears protect things like their credit, driver’s license, and tax refunds. If you are owed monies, our child support attorneys can use our extensive resources to help enforce child support decisions. Don’t let child support debt ruin your future and your peace of mind. Call us today to discuss your case.

An article on the California Courts website outlines the processes by which an individual can establish paternity in California. The 3 methods discussed in detail are:

1. Signing a Declaration of Paternity
2. Having a Child Support Agency Establish Parentage
3. Appearing in Court To Establish Parentage

Signing a Declaration of Paternity
When both unmarried parents of a child sign a Declaration of Paternity, they are deemed the legal parents of a child. The signing of this document is considered voluntary. If the parents sign at the hospital, the father’s name will go on the child’s birth certificate, and the mother does not need to go to court to prove who the father of the child is. If they sign the declaration after the child’s birth certificate has been issued, a new birth certificate can be issued with the father’s name. An important benefit of having this document signed is that once it is filed with the court, the judge can make orders for custody, visitation, and support based upon it.

Having a Child Support Agency Establish Parentage
A California child support agency can bring an action to establish the parentage of your child. As part of this action, they will ask for a child support order. Although this service is free, the filing of the forms can be complicated. It is important to note that the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) doesn’t represent the parents or the children. The LCSA lawyers aren’t your lawyers. You are not their client, and the information you give the LCSA isn’t confidential. By using the LCSA to establish parentage, you are waiving certain rights you would be able to exercise if you had your own attorney. The law says the LCSA will make the final decision on child support enforcement, even if the custodial parent disagrees. For this reason alone, whenever possible, it is always best to have a qualified, experienced California child custody & support attorney file the child support order and represent your interests in the child custody matter.

Appearing in Court to Establish Parentage
The filling out, serving, and filing of the necessary court forms for establishing parentage is the last of the methods discussed on the site. This process can be exceedingly complicated, and although it is possible for a party to attempt to navigate the court system alone, it is always best to contact a skilled California child custody attorney to insure that no mistakes are made and the best possible result for your particular situation is reached. Among the forms that may or may not have to be filled out are a Summons (Uniform Parentage-Petition for Custody and Support), Petition to Establish Parental Relationship (Uniform Parentage), Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), Income and Expense Declaration (Family Law), and/or a Financial Statement.

Regardless of the method used, it is of the utmost importance when seeking to establish paternity to contact an experienced Southern California paternity attorney like the ones at Wallin & Klarich. The laws that apply to establishing paternity and paternity testing are complex. We can help guide you through the complicated legal process and get you the help and support you need. Call us today for a free consultation.

A recent article on CNN.COM discusses out-of-wedlock births in the U.S., which according to the report, is at a record high. Nearly 40 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers, according to data released last month by the National Center for Health Statistics. The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock births, of 4.3 million total births, marked more than 25 percent from five years before.

The article goes on to explain that at the heart of this trend may be a shift in the negative stigma attached with unwed mothers giving birth, which coupled with cultural differences, may result in more and more mother’s choosing to have children before they get married. When you add in a struggling economy, and the prohibitive costs of a large wedding, it is no wonder that many couples choose to spend their money elsewhere.

“Do we want to spend that money on a wedding or a house? … I guess it’s about priorities. I was never one of those girls that dreamed about the wedding dress,” LaShanda Henry, 28 was quoted as saying.

An important result of this recent spike in out-of-wedlock births that the article does not touch on is the issue of paternity, establishing paternity and child support obligations.  Paternity is the legal identification of the father of a child. Paternity in California is always at issue when the parents of a child are not married.

Even if one party admits that they are the father of the child and they are listed on the birth certificate, legal paternity must still be addressed by the court if the parents are not married. Once legal paternity is established, the acknowledged father will gain his legal rights to his child as well as take on responsibilities for supporting his child.

If you are involved in a situation where the paternity of your child is in question, or you are seeking the financial support that your child requires and deserves, the experienced California family law attorneys at Wallin & Klarich can help. The laws that apply to paternity testing are complex. We can help guide you through the complicated legal process. Call us today at 888-749-7428 for a case evaluation.

Paternity in California is an important issue that establishes the legal identity of a child’s father. Not only will a child know who his or her father is, but the child will receive financial support, the right to inheritance, and possibly health insurance. When a married woman is pregnant, it is assumed that the husband has legal parentage. In simple cases, paternity may be filed by both parents through a declaration in the hospital and then given to the state.

Unmarried couples can establish parentage by signing a Paternity Opportunity Program Declaration of Paternity form in the hospital when the child is born, or later through a local registrar, child support agency, or through a court order. These family law issues can be more complicated when a court order is needed to establish parentage, especially when parents are in disagreement. This is why a top paternity lawyer in California can assist you with making sure legal documents are properly read and filled out, as well as help get you adequate child support.

When a paternity case is brought to a child support agency, a Summons and Complaint is issued to the presumed father. If the man knows he is the father, he can sign a Stipulation of agreement, or if he thinks he is not the father, he must file the Answer to Complaint within thirty days of being served. After thirty days of not responding, the court will establish the named man as the father and can order him to begin paying child support and provide medical coverage for the child.

As you can see, issues surrounding and influencing parentage in California is complex and requires the knowledge and experience of a skilled California family law attorney to ensure that your specific situation has the best outcome for those involved. Whether you would like to establish paternity or challenge paternity DNA tests, the team at Wallin & Klarich can help. Call us today for a case evaluation.