Child Visitation and Paternity 

When married couples with children go through a divorce they have a myriad of issues that must be resolved before they can get a final decree of divorce. There are financial matters involving the equitable division of assets and debt and alimony. In addition to these financial issues, there are big decisions that must be made with regard to the children, such as custody, visitation and child support.

While these issues can be troubling for married couples, they are often more complicated when parents of a child are unmarried. There can be issues of paternity and visitation rights that arise in addition to child support questions. 

The open recognition of paternity is one way to legally establish paternity in Georgia. While the open recognition of paternity by the father can establish parentage, if the parents do not agree on parenting time and visitation, it can still be necessary for the Father to resort to the court system to establish visitation rights in the form of a Parenting Plan Order. This process is commenced by a Petition for Legitimation.

In cases where there is a dispute as to paternity, the mother of the child in question will have to prove the man’s parentage in order to force the alleged father to pay child support. This is done through a petition in the court and can result in the putative father being ordered to take a DNA test. 

If you have questions or concerns about child visitation, legitimation, and/or paternity, contact us for a free consultation.