How do I Hire the Right Father’s Rights Attorney in Orange County
Hiring the Right Father’s Rights Attorney in Orange County, California: In many legal cases involving children, like those regarding custody, parental rights, or child support, favor is shown to the mother, simply because she is the mother, and historically, that’s how it has been done. However, just because things have been done one way in the past does not mean that it’s right for every situation.
When you’re looking to hire a lawyer, it is important to find one who has experience and knowledge in the area of law with which you are concerned. If you are a father facing any type of legal situation in the OC that involves your family, it is imperative that you hire a highly skilled father’s rights attorney.
A father’s rights lawyer in the OC can help you with legal matters concerning paternity, parental rights, child custody, child support, child visitation, modification of orders, divorce, contempt of a court order, and more.
Both mothers and fathers have rights and obligations as parents. If you’re in a legal battle regarding your rights as a father, it usually means you are fighting for your rights and someone is trying to keep you from them, or it means you are being asked to take on obligations and responsibilities that you don’t believe you should have to. Either way, a father’s rights lawyer in the OC is your best bet.
Paternity Cases in OC & LA Southern California
For Dads, establishing parentage is the first and most important step in any father’s rights case
Paternity, also called parentage, is when the Court decides who a child’s legal parents are. Establishing parentage is the first and most important step in any father’s rights case, because no parent has legal rights or obligations to a child until legal parentage has been established.
Establishing paternity can be done several ways, and the legal parents are responsible for financial, emotional and physical well being of the child. Both parents also have the right to spend time with the child and to make decisions regarding the child’s life.
Establishing parentage can be simple. If the parents are married when the child is born, the law assumes that the husband and wife are the mother and father of the children, and both parents can sign the birth certificate.
However, when parents are unmarried at the time of birth, paternity needs to be established. Even if the father proves that he is biologically the child’s father, he does not have legal rights paternity has been legally established. This also means he has no legal rights or obligations to the child until establishing paternity.
Parentage can be established by either signing a voluntary declaration of paternity, or through obtaining a court order.
When voluntarily signed by both parents and filed with the California Department of Child Support Services Paternity Opportunity Program, a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity establishes the legal parents of the child the same way that a court order would, but without the need to appear in court.
If either parent refuses to sign the Voluntary Declaration of Paternity, either parent can either initiate a case on his or her own, or ask a local child support agency to initiate a parentage case.
What are the Rights and Obligations of a Father?
Rights and Obligations of a Father
Once parentage has been established, other issues involving father’s rights may arise during divorce, after a divorce, or throughout the course of a child’s life, especially if the parents are not married to each other. If you are concerned that your rights are not being upheld, or that you are being asked to fulfill obligations you don’t believe you should have, consult a father’s rights lawyer.
Child Custody & Visitation
A father has the right to spend time with his children, as long as the Court has not determined that it is in the best interests of the child not to spend time with the father. If the father and mother are divorcing or were never married, it is in the best interests of both the father and the children to have a child custody and visitation order in place.
An attorney can help you protect your rights to custody and visitation, as well as help you to modify either order should your circumstances change, or to enforce either order if the mother attempts to prevent you from spending time with your child.
Neither parent should be favored when determining custody; the decision should always be made in the best interests of the child.
Are the child custody and visitation decisions being made in the best interest of the child?
Legal Custody & Physical Custody
Legal custody of a child determines who makes decisions regarding the child’s life, including his or her health, religion, travel, residence, and education. Physical custody determines where the child spends his or her time.
Both legal and physical custody can be awarded either to one parent, who has sole custody, or to both, for a joint custody order. If one parent has sole custody, the other parent will likely have visitation rights, and in either case, one parent may be ordered to pay child support.
All custody and visitation decisions should be made in the best interest of the child, who has a right to spend time with both parents. If, as a father, you wish to spend time with or to share custody of your child, contact an attorney to help protect your rights. Your lawyer can also help with the modification of a previous order, or, if the terms of the order are not being upheld by either party, an attorney can help ensure that they are.
Child Support
You may assume that the father will always be the parent required to pay child support, even if he is granted joint custody. This is not the case; child support payments are calculated based on many things, and gender of the parent is not one of them.
• How much each parent earns;
• How many children the parents have together;
• How much time each parent spends with the child;
• The tax filing status of each parent;
• Health insurance expenses;
• Mandatory expenses of both parents;
• The cost of childcare.
Again, if a child support order needs to be modified, or if the terms of the order are not being followed, an attorney can help ensure that the situation is corrected.
What to Look for in hiring the Right Father’s Rights Attorney in Orange County
Now that you understand what an Orange County father’s rights attorney can help you with, it’s time to find one. Look for an attorney who has experience working cases that involve father’s rights, parentage, child custody, visitation, and child support. Your attorney should be able to communicate well, and take the time to get to know you and your family in order to be able to find the unique solution that will work best for your situation.
Consider the team of lawyers at Yanez & Associates. We offer a free initial consultation for you to get to know us and determine whether we’re a good match for your father’s rights case in the OC.
