Paternity and the Law in Georgia
When going through a divorce in Georgia, it might be important for you to determine the paternity of your children to make sure that the child support obligation and visitation rights are accurate and legal according to the law. This can be a very uncomfortable and hard decision to make. A child finding out that the person he or she has been calling their dad for their entire life isn t their father can be devastating. One has to broach this subject carefully and make sure that the children do not suffer undue emotional damage during this time. A family law specialist can help with this.
Augusta Paternity Lawyer
When you are going through a divorce and paternity testing, you will want to have an Augusta divorce lawyer well versed in the various tests, laws and methods of determining paternity. Choose a qualified Evans of Augusta divorce lawyer with this type of experience before you head to court. It will be much easier for you if you do.
What Determines the Rights and Obligations of Paternity?
First, you have to know what paternity means. It means that you are the father of the child. This doesn t always mean that you are the biological father, as in the case of adoptions. It does mean that you willingly take on the role of the father. Of course, there are some situations where this can get a little hazy. If you raise a child under the impression that he or she is yours and later find out that your wife was pregnant by another man, that is not only grounds for divorce but could also mean that you aren t going to have to pay child support.
A paternity test, or DNA test, is the best way to determine whether a man is the father of a child. These tests are useful in many different situations that can have legal ramifications. Women can use the tests to prove that a man is the biological father of the child. Men can use the tests to win custody or visitation rights too.
If you feel that a paternity test can help you, whether you are a man seeking to abolish child support for children that are not yours or you are a woman who is trying to obtain child support from someone who claims he isn t the father, you need to make sure that you get a quality test. You also want to make sure that you are going through the proper channels. The best way to do this is with the help of an Augusta family law specialist who is able to help point you in the right direction and represent you when you go to court.
The results of these tests will stand up in a court of law as long as it was done at an accredited lab. An Augusta paternity Lawyer will be able to help you find the lab and guide you through the court proceedings that are going to follow.