How Does an Unmarried Father Establish Paternity in Michigan?

Under Michigan law, children born to unmarried parents do not have a father until or unless a court establishes paternity. If you are a father who wants or needs to establish paternity in the Detroit area, your first step is contacting and discussing your concerns with a Southfield paternity lawyer.

How do the courts in Michigan determine paternity? What will it take for you to prove that your child is yours? What are the advantages and benefits of establishing paternity in Michigan? And when should you schedule a legal consultation with a Southfield paternity attorney?

When a couple is married, the law automatically presumes that the husband is the legal father of their children. When the parents have not married, unwed mothers in Michigan have automatic child custody rights. Unwed fathers do not, and an unwed mother may pursue a man for child support only after paternity has been legally established.

What Makes Paternity So Important?

Children have the right to healthy, positive relationships with both parents. Establishing paternity is vital because children and their parents should have healthy relationships with one another and because each parent is legally obligated to provide their children with financial support.

Establishing paternity also gives a child inheritance rights and access to a father’s medical records, insurance, and Social Security or veterans benefits. When paternity is established, the father’s name goes on the birth certificate, and the father may request visitations or custody.

Paternity is legally established in Michigan when a court recognizes a particular man as a father. You may find that establishing paternity is complicated. The best first step for an unmarried father is to retain sound legal advice and guidance from a Southfield paternity lawyer.

Should You Sign an Affidavit of Parentage?

When a married couple has a child in Michigan, the law presumes that the husband is the legal father. When the parents have not married, an unmarried father has several ways to establish paternity. The first way is to sign an Affidavit of Parentage form.

Both parents must complete the Affidavit of Parentage form voluntarily to confirm they are the biological parents. The form must be witnessed and notarized. Before a man signs an Affidavit of Parentage in Michigan, he should be confident that he is, in fact, the biological father.

A father should sign the Affidavit of Parentage form at the hospital when the child is born so that a complete birth certificate may be issued. If the form is signed after a birth certificate is issued, both parents must also sign an Application to Add a Father to a Michigan Birth Certificate.

In Michigan, signing an Affidavit of Parentage is an option only when the parents agree on the biological father’s identity. If there is no agreement regarding the biological father’s identity, a Michigan court may have to resolve the dispute in a paternity proceeding.

When Do Paternity Cases Go to Court?

When the parents have never married, questions about paternity may emerge in custody and child support disputes. A paternity case may be filed by either parent to establish biological fatherhood or determine child custody, to arrange a visitation schedule, or to seek child support.

A mother may file a paternity case to pursue child support, or a father may bring a paternity case to establish his parental rights. The court usually orders DNA testing in these cases, and it is exceptionally accurate. A DNA test can confirm if the man is a child’s biological father with 99.9 percent certainty. DNA testing may also exclude a man as a child’s biological father.

Because the law obligates a father to support his children financially, the Office of Child Support of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services may file a paternity case on a mother’s behalf if the mother qualifies for child support or receives public assistance.

How Do Lawyers Help Fathers in Michigan?

In any case involving a child, a Michigan court’s top priority will be the child’s best interests. Suppose you are an unmarried father, and you ask the court for custody of your child or visitations with your child. In that case, you and your lawyer must prove that awarding you custody or approving visitations will serve the child’s best interests.

Even after establishing paternity, a father may not necessarily gain custody or visitation rights until a court establishes those rights separately. The presumption that having a relationship with both parents is in a child’s best interests may be challenged with solid evidence of domestic violence, parental alcohol or drug abuse, or any other risk to the child’s well-being and safety.

The law can change in Michigan at any time. An unmarried father seeking to establish paternity will need legal assistance from a Michigan paternity lawyer who stays aware of current legal developments and offers clients sound up-to-date advice and effective legal representation.

How Will the American Divorce Association for Men Help You?

Child custody and paternity cases are almost always emotionally charged, so it is essential to choose a Southfield paternity attorney who routinely and exclusively handles paternity and related family law cases.

Fathers with questions or concerns about paternity, parental rights, custody, or other family law matters should speak with a fathers’ rights attorney at the American Divorce Association for Men. Our family law attorneys have been fighting for fathers’ rights in Michigan since 1988. We bring our legal skills and decades of legal experience to every client and every case.

We are divorce lawyers for men. We fight for fathers’ rights in divorce, child custody, child support, and paternity cases. In the Metro Detroit area, if you want or need to establish your paternity, contact the American Divorce Association for Men promptly by calling 248-290-6675.

Nothing is more important than your children and your rights as a parent. A father who wants to establish paternity must have a family law attorney’s insights, advice, and services. Ask an American Divorce Association for Men lawyer to represent and advocate for you and your child.