California Attorney For Legal Parentage And Paternity

Establishing legal parentage can affect your relationship with your child, financial responsibilities and ability to seek court orders. If your child’s parentage is unclear, you may feel stressed or worried about your future as their parent. You might have questions about your rights and how the case could affect your relationship with your family.

My name is Mike Darlington, a paternity lawyer in Redding, California, helping parents understand their rights. I run my firm, Sundial Family Law, virtually, which gives me the flexibility to meet clients where they are and help them establish or challenge legal parentage. If you need help with cases involving paternity, custody, visitation and child support, I can help you explore your options. I bring four decades of legal experience to my practice. My background includes service as a Judge Pro Tem, a Shasta County Child Support Officer and appointed counsel for minor children in custody disputes.

What Does Legal Parentage Mean In California?

In California, parentage refers to the legal relationship between a parent and child. Paternity refers to the legally recognized relationship between a child and a father. This relationship can be established through biology, marriage presumptions, voluntary declarations or holding the child out as your own. A legal parent is someone the law recognizes as a parent based on one or more legally recognized factors.

You may need to establish parentage before asking the court to issue certain orders involving:

• Child custody and visitation: You may need legal parent status before asking the court for custody or visitation orders.
• Child support: The court generally must determine the child’s legal parents before ordering support.
• Attorney fees: You do not necessarily need to establish parentage before requesting attorney fees. The court may award temporary attorney fees during a parentage case before it officially establishes parentage.

For unmarried fathers, being named on a birth certificate does not automatically establish legal parentage by itself. An unmarried father generally needs an underlying Voluntary Declaration of Parentage filed with the California Department of Public Health or a court order to establish legal parentage.

Establishing parentage can provide a legal foundation for addressing your rights and responsibilities as a parent. If parentage remains unresolved, it can make it more difficult to address important issues involving your child.

When Should You Consider A Paternity Or Parentage Action?

As a family law and parentage action lawyer in Redding, California, I can help when you need the court to formally establish parental rights and responsibilities. You may need a parentage action if:

• You are unmarried and legal parentage has not been established through a valid Voluntary Declaration of Parentage or court order.
• You and another person disagree about who the child’s biological father is.
• You want custody or visitation but have not established legal parentage.
• Someone has asked you to pay child support and you question whether you are the child’s father.
• You may qualify as a presumed parent because you were married to the child’s mother or held the child out as your own.
• You are in a same-sex relationship and need to establish legal parentage under California law.

If you are facing one of these situations, establishing parentage can help clarify your legal rights and responsibilities. It can also allow you to address custody, visitation and child support through the court.

What Happens During A Parentage Case?

I understand that starting a paternity case can feel stressful. I explain what to expect and help you prepare for each stage. A typical case includes:

• Consultation: I review your circumstances, explain the parentage process and help you explore your legal options.
• Filing: The required court documents are prepared and filed to start the parentage case.
• Service: The other parent receives formal notice of the case and an opportunity to respond.
• Hearings: Representation at court hearings addresses issues involving parentage, custody, visitation or support.
• Testing: The court may issue a paternity test court order in California when biological parentage is disputed.
• Judgment: The court enters a judgment establishing parentage and may address custody, visitation and child support.

The time required to resolve a parentage case depends on the issues involved. Simple cases may take a few months, while disputes over parentage, custody or support could take even longer. Court schedules, the circumstances of your case and whether you and the other parent reach an agreement can all affect the length of the case.

If the case involves custody, the court considers the child’s best interests. For child support, the court generally applies California’s guideline factors and considers the parents’ financial circumstances.

Discuss Your Parentage Case With Me

A paternity or parentage case can leave you with a lot of questions about your child’s future, as well as your rights as a parent. If you have questions about paternity, legal parentage, custody or child support, you may consult me for legal guidance.

I can review your situation, explain your legal options and help you make informed decisions as you decide how to proceed. Contact 530-487-0476 or send me an email to schedule a consultation.