For people who find themselves involved in a child support dispute, paternity can sometimes prove to be a key issue. Perhaps a man thinks that a woman is seeking support from him even though the child is probably not his. Much more common is the scenario where a woman is trying to obtain child support from a man she believes to be the father of her child.
Texas courts are presented with situations like these very often. How do they handle it? The court will almost always order a DNA test to determine whether a certain man is the father of the child in question. This can be done with a painless cheek swab of the putative father and the child. Lab technicians will compare the DNA recovered from the two samples to see if a paternal relationship can be inferred.
If you are a mother or a father seeking to establish paternity of a child, an attorney can arrange for the simple test to be performed. The results of the test can sometimes be unexpected, resulting in surprise to the mother, the putative father and the child alike.
GUNNSTAKS LAW OFFICE can help you with navigating the legal implications of the test results.
Depending on the results, parties may want to seek child support, custody or visitation. They may alternatively want to terminate parental rights or change the child’s name. The people at GUNNSTAKS LAW OFFICE can provide you with your legal options and help you determine which legal course to take. For more information, please see our paternity page.