When unmarried parents end their relationship, issues surrounding the children can arise.
If you're dealing with a paternity issue, contact Matthys Family Law.
Shelly will explain the process and recommend a course of action to establish your child's paternity.
If legal paternity has not been established, the biological father is not a legal parent and has no legal rights in regard to a child.
Legal paternity can be established in the following ways:
- There is a legal presumption that a woman's husband is the father when a child is born during a marriage.
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The parents sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity which is filed with the State of Oregon Center
for Health Statistics.
This document is typically signed by
both parents in the hospital at the time of a child's birth.
If a man signs the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity, he will be named as a child's father on the birth certificate.
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If parents are unmarried and a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity has not been
filed, either parent may apply to the Oregon
Department of Justice Child Support Program in order to establish paternity, child
support, and health care coverage for a child.
These services are provided free of cost.
If paternity of a child is in question, the parents may request genetic testing in order to establish parentage.
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Paternity may also be established by court order.
Either parent can file a paternity action in District Court in order to establish parentage of a child.
