Dallas Paternity Lawyers

Dallas paternity lawyers serving the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex including Collin county, Denton county, McKinney, Frisco, Irving, Mesquite Farmers Branch, Denton, Rockwall, and Waxahachie

At Goldstein & Scopellite, PC, our Dallas Paternity attorneys and Family Law Lawyers Dallas are advocates for our clients and their children, especially those children who have been born outside of wedlock (meaning when the couple is not married). When this occurs, our team of qualified attorneys will advocate on your and your child’s behalf and we will take the necessary steps to make sure that your rights are protected and that you have the best possible relationship with your child.

At Goldstein & Scopellite, PC we will ascertain facts and gather evidence so that we can apply the best strategy to your legal challenges. Our firm’s approach is simple: Make sure that we cover all of the bases and provide our clients with information they need and the service necessary so that you end up with a successful resolution to your matter and so that your rights are fully protected under Texas law.

Our Dallas Paternity attorneys at Goldstein & Scopellite, PC are experienced in handling all types of situations including agreed Paternity with custody to Complex custody battles. Our attorneys will advocate protecting the best interest of the child and ensuring that the protection of your child comes first, so that your child can have a productive relationship with both of their parents, not just one. Studies have shown that when a child’s parents work together in raising their child and if they are involved in their life, the child will be much happier, do better in school and will have better health.

When Should I Contact a Paternity Attorney?

Contact one of our qualified Dallas Paternity attorneys if you are involved in any of the following situations:

• you are involved in a custody argument with the other biological parent;
• you just found out that you have a child and you now want a relationship with that child;
• you are not on the child’s birth certificate and want to be or if the wrong person was placed on your child’s birth certificate;
• the biological mother will not let you see your child;
• you have no custody rights to see your child;
• DCS or CPS has taken the child into custody or has given you temporary custody and they are now requesting that you get an order from the court naming you the true father of your child;
• you want to legitimize your child born outside of wedlock, by court order;
• you are married and you have found out that your wife is having another man’s child and you do not legally want to be that child’s father, or the true biological father of the child is going to be involved in that child’s life;
• you are seeing your child but you want to see the child more and you have not gone to court to establish that your child, is legally your child;
• you are being told that you can’t have equal rights, extra time to equal visitation with your child;
• you want to set up child support for your child and have an order from the court granting you court ordered custody of your child;
• you feel that you are not being properly represented in a current Paternity matter or Custody matter before the court; or
• your child has been abused by the other parent and you now want legal custody of your child.

Where Does the Word Paternity Come From?

The word Paternity relates to “fatherhood,” and, in the legal sense of the word, Paternity means the confirmation of the biological father as the true, adjudicated biological father of the child, through a court process, and that an order has been entered by the court naming that person to be the true biological father of the child.

What if the Biological Mother of My Child Won’t Let Me See My Child?

The only way that a true biological father’s identity can legally be established is when an Acknowledgement of Paternity has been filed with the State: or, when a Paternity suit has been filed with the court; Paternity has been established by the court; and the court has issued an order naming you the father of the child. If there is no court order of Paternity adjudicating you to be the biological father of the child, then, legally, you are not the father, and, if there is no court order rendering you some type of custody rights to the child, the biological mother can withhold the child from you. However, that does not mean that what the biological mother is doing is right or that the court will be pleased to find out that this type of behavior is occurring.

Why is it Best to file a Paternity Suit?

If you have no order establishing Paternity, then, legally, you are not the father of your child. If you have no legal rights to your child, another person could be raising your child, you may be denied custody or parenting time with your child, or many legal difficulties may occur such as where you are denied access to information or cannot get legal benefits. Some agencies will accept a birth certificate to prove that you are the father of a child. However, a Paternity order is the only legal document that proves you are the true legal father of your child that would also grant you custody and visitation rights to your child.

In some cases, Paternity can be determined through a child support proceeding and the Child Support court can establish Paternity and include an order of Paternity in their child support order so that they can order child support to be paid. However, if you have been established the biological father of a child through a child support proceeding, this may not mean that you have been awarded proper parental rights (legal decision-making) or custody (parenting time) with your child. In fact, our qualified family law attorneys have handled many cases where our clients go back to court to modify the custody or legal decision making rights ordered through the child support court because the orders did not reflect the actual relationship that they wanted with their child, as the child support court was only there to set up child support ““ not visitation.

That is why we recommend that you act proactively and retain a qualified paternity attorney Dallas before you have to act in the defensive mode of a suit being filed against you or the child support filing a case against you. Our team of qualified Paternity attorneys will protect your rights to your child. We will not only file a proper Paternity suit but we will include in that suit the proper requests for custody orders to be rendered so that the court can determine the legal decision-making and parenting time and/or child support that should be ordered, and, if necessary, we will aggressively represent you in court in achieving the goals that you want to accomplish.

Is a Person’s Name as the “Father” of a Child on a Child’s Birth Certificate Sufficient to Prove Paternity?

No. A father’s name on a birth certificate means very little. In fact, the father’s name on the birth certificate may not even be linked to the real biological father of the child. Many men will claim to be the father of a child to help out another person; the child may be born to a marriage when it was actually conceived by another man through an outside affair; or the biological mother will tell the person they had sexual relations with that they are the father, when in reality, that child is not their biological child. And, in some cases, the biological father’s name is not listed on the birth certificate at all, usually to hide who the father is, and then, after a DNA test or Paternity litigation ensues, the real father is identified. In each of these cases, when the real biological father is determined, and if the name on the birth certificate needs to be replaced or added to the birth certificate, the only way to change that birth certificate is by a court order.

As to a man raising another man’s biological child, and as this does occur, it does not mean that another man cannot step into the shoes of that child’s father and raise that child. What it does mean is that unless the child was born to your marriage and the true paternity of the child is not disputed, or an order was entered by the court stating the child to be your child, or the parental rights of the true biological father were terminated by the court and then, you adopted the child, the child is not legally your child.

For more information on Paternity and your rights with regards to your child or if you are seeking to establish the true paternity of a child, please contact our experienced Paternity attorneys in Dallas TX, and our Father’s Rights’ lawyers Dallas.

Contact Goldstein & Scopellite, PC Paternity Attorneys in Dallas Texas

Regardless of the family matter that you are dealing with, Goldstein & Scopellite, PC has qualified Dallas Family Law lawyers, and Child Custody attorneys available who will aggressively represent you. For more information or to discuss the specifics of your case, please call us today at (214) 351-9100 or email us. Thank you.