Paternity

Unmarried parents need to ensure that their custody rights are protected through a paternity action. SLS Law has the experience necessary to help you through this process.

Paternity needs to be legally established when the parents of a child were not married when the child or children were born. If you believe that you are the biological father of the child, but you are not married to the mother, you do not have any legal rights or responsibilities to the child until you legally establish your paternity. Thus, it is in your best interest to contact a lawyer who will help you to legally establish paternity. Parentage needs to be established before the court can order custody, visitation, child support, name change, and reimbursement of pregnancy and birth expenses. Thus, paternity becomes an issue in many child custody and child support cases. When parentage is in doubt, the court may order the alleged father, mother, and child to submit to genetic testing. This aspect of Missouri and Kansas family law can be very complicated. Therefore, it is essential that you speak with an experienced attorney. Give our office a call to discuss your paternity matter.