Establishing Paternity to Seek Custody Rights 

Establishing Paternity to Seek Custody Rights 

In Illinois, when a child is born to a married couple, the law presumes that the husband is the child’s father. This presumption is confirmed when the married parents fill out paperwork at the hospital, including the husband’s name on the child’s birth certificate application for the state vital records office.

Establishing paternity is more complicated for unmarried parents. While the mother’s identity is typically known, determining the father’s paternity may require legal action, which can happen either voluntarily or involuntarily.

A potential father can voluntarily acknowledge paternity by submitting an affidavit or participating in a court paternity proceeding. If the father does not voluntarily acknowledge paternity, the mother or the state may initiate legal action to establish paternity. 

The court may compel the presumed father, known as the putative father, to participate in the paternity case to establish an official declaration of the child’s legal father.

Read on to learn more about establishing paternity to seek custody rights in Illinois, what you can expect under your circumstances, and how a Barrington child custody attorney can help you.

Why Do I Need to Establish Paternity?

If you’re an unmarried father wondering whether you need to establish paternity, the answer is crucially important. The short answer is, until you admit paternity or a court determines you are the father of a child, you have no legal rights or responsibilities regarding that child. 

You must establish legal paternity to ensure custody or visitation rights in Illinois, which are now referred to as Parenting Rights. You can legally claim paternity of a child by completing a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity Affidavit or by obtaining a court-issued Paternity Order.

Once paternity is established, your child will also receive certain legal rights, including the right to receive support, inheritance rights, and other typical parent-child rights.

Legal Rights Associated With Paternity

Establishing paternity is not just about rights—it’s also about fulfilling responsibilities. As a parent, you should provide a safe and nurturing environment for your child. This obligation includes meeting their basic needs, such as providing food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and parental guidance. Parents are also required to provide financial support, which may involve child support payments or other benefits related to fatherhood.

In many cases, the need for financial support is the primary reason a mother may seek a paternity order. With legally established paternity, the court may require parents to contribute financially, often through child support payments. 

As a father, establishing paternity is not only about securing your rights to your child, it also involves fulfilling your responsibilities as a parent. Whether or not you believe your child’s mother deserves child support, under Illinois law, your child absolutely does.

What is a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgement?

If you believe you may be the father of a child, you can voluntarily sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity affidavit in Illinois. Once submitted to the appropriate authorities, this legal document formally recognizes you as the child’s father. Your name may be added to the birth certificate if it was not included at the start. Talk to an experienced paternity lawyer to learn more about this process. 

You can sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement regardless of your level of certainty regarding your biological relationship with the child. However, if you have any doubts about your paternity, it may be best to request DNA testing before you sign any legal documents related to the child. The Voluntary Acknowledgment is a legal admission of paternity, and you may be unable to change that legal relationship if you later learn you are not the father.

Submitting the Voluntary Acknowledgment triggers a notification to the Illinois State Division of Child Support Services office. If the child’s mother has enlisted the state’s help in pursuing child support, Child Support Services may then take steps to establish a child support order against you.

Signing the paternity acknowledgment doesn’t automatically confer additional legal rights, such as parenting time or responsibilities, formerly known as custody and visitation. If the child’s mother doesn’t agree to give you these rights, you must initiate a parentage action by petitioning the court. 

The Court Can Enter an Involuntary Paternity Determination

In Illinois, when a mother needs to prove who the father of her child is, especially to establish child support or inheritance rights, she must file a paternity action. Assuming the putative father denies paternity, the court can enter an order requiring the alleged father to submit to paternity testing.

Paternity testing usually involves taking and comparing DNA samples from the putative father, the mother, and the child. This is done by cheek swabbing or saliva sampling. 

Custody Rights

It’s crucial to initiate this procedure while the potential father is still living, as it provides an opportunity to address any possible denial of paternity. In the event of the father’s passing, the court may require substantial evidence to proceed with a paternity test, such as a prior acknowledgment of the child or having the father’s name listed on the child’s birth certificate.

If the mother receives state-based aid or child support enforcement services, the state might seek to establish paternity in an effort to provide the child with the financial support they deserve by law. If the paternity test proves you are the biological father, the state can pursue child support from you to help cover what the state paid to support the child.

If a parent doesn’t pay what they owe for child support, the state can bring them to court and request the court to suspend their driver’s license or even put them in jail.

Who Can Challenge Paternity in Illinois—and How?

In Illinois, paternity can be challenged under certain circumstances, typically involving doubts about the biological relationship between a man and a child. 

One common scenario is when a man is presumed to be the father because he was married to the child’s mother at the time of the birth, but later evidence emerges indicating he is not the biological father.

Another circumstance is when a man voluntarily acknowledges paternity, perhaps based on mistaken information or pressure, and later learns that he is not the biological father. 

DNA testing or other conclusive evidence revealing that another man is the biological father typically prompts a paternity challenge. Instances of fraud, coercion, or misrepresentation may also lead to paternity challenges. 

If a mother knowingly provides false information about the child’s biological father or if someone tampered with or falsified DNA test results, it could warrant a challenge to paternity.

Time Constraints for Paternity Challenges

In Illinois, the deadlines for challenging paternity results can vary depending on the specific circumstances of the case and the legal avenues pursued.

Generally, whether a father can challenge paternity will depend on two main timeframes:

  • Within Two Years of the Child’s Birth: If a man voluntarily acknowledges paternity and wishes to challenge that admission based on new evidence or circumstances, he typically has up to two years from the date of the child’s birth to file a petition to challenge paternity in court.
  • Within a Reasonable Time After Discovery: If a man discovers new evidence indicating that he is not the biological father of a child after the two-year timeframe has passed, he may still be able to challenge paternity within a “reasonable time” after making the discovery. 

Failure to meet these time constraints could result in the inability to challenge paternity or complicate the legal process significantly.

To Learn More About How to Establish Paternity and Seek Parental Rights, Reach Out to Manassa Law

If you are the legal father of a child whose mother is denying paternity or your legal parental rights to care for and support your child, you have the right to establish paternity in Illinois. Once paternity is established, you may have to fight for parental rights such as custody and visitation, now known as parental responsibilities and time with your child.

While the law clearly protects putative father’s rights, it is not simple to enforce. Turn to the experienced paternity lawyers at Manassa Law to learn about your options and make the best decisions possible for you and your child. Call us at (847) 221-5511 or fill out our online contact form for a free consultation today. 

Larry Manassa
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