Paternity dispute cases. They are not fun, some can be a nightmare, and others can even humiliate a spouse on national television.

This has gotten more and more complicated in recent years because up to 40% of kids are born to unmarried mothers. Because of this, it opens up the door for more and more fathers to have a paternity case.

What is a paternity case? Here is what you need to know.

Unmarried Fathers

If you are an unmarried father then you may have no rights to your born child if you are separated from the birth mother. This is because there may be no proof that you are actually the father.

This is especially true when you get a married woman pregnant. In this case, rights to the child would be automatically assumed to the husband of the birth mother.

You can get rights to your child in these situations, but you would need to have a paternity test, and even then, it is not guaranteed.

In most states, you would need a paternity action, which is mediation that determines who the child’s official father is.

What does this mean exactly? It means that the official father does not have to be the birth father.

Non-Biological Fathers

A lot of you are probably asking how a non-biological father can be considered the official father of a child? Well, besides adoption, there are a few ways.

The first is if the birth father abandons or abuses his family. The best interests of the child are heavily weighed when paternity action cases come out.

This means that if a birth father is considered unstable and abusive while posing a threat to the birth mother and children, he might not officially be the father if there is another man in the picture who lives with the birth mother and child.

Then, there is abandonment. If the birth father is not around, and the birth mother is with another man who ends up living with her and the child, then he could be eligible to be considered an official father.

Finally, there is a married man whose wife got pregnant by another man. It is very possible that the husband would be considered the official father in this situation if nobody left the house.

Factors

There are factors you need to weigh before deciding to do this. The first is if you are sure you want to have rights for custody and visitation of a child. In the mother’s case, if she wants this man to have these rights to her child.

If there is an element of danger, then another thing to consider is if you want a father to have information on where you and your child are living. If not, then you may need to think twice about going this route.

Finally, the biggest factor is what environment is best for the child. The well-being and best interest of a child will be the biggest consideration for a ruling in a paternity action case.

Win Your Paternity Case

If after reading this, you decide to go ahead with a paternity case, make sure the information above is in your favor in order to win the said case.