How to Get Your Child Support
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Your Life Raising a child is costly. Get the help you’re entitled to.
(The first story in a continuing series on child support). |
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Your Life Raising a child is costly. Get the help you’re entitled to!(The first story in a continuing series on child support). Child support is a right, but often an emotional and legal nightmare. Navigating the murky waters of the court system is difficult to say the least. The Mocha Manual will feature an ongoing series on child support from understanding the legal mumbo gumbo to tracking down assets and pointing you toward resources that work. To get started, we’ll go through the first step of getting child support: establishing paternity. Step One: Establish paternity How to Establish Paternity But remember, it is necessary to establish paternity if you plan to get married after the baby is born. Plans may change, so it is important to give a child a legal father from the beginning. 2. Sign on the dotted line. The process of establishing paternity is easier when the father agrees that he is the legal father. If both parents agree to sign the Voluntary Acknowledgement form or Parentage/Paternity Affidavit, the birth certificate will name the father. A hospital, midwife, or birthing clinic staff person will help you complete the form, answer questions, and submit the paperwork. Most hospitals, midwives, and birthing clinics can also notarize the form for you. This means that they confirm the form is valid. This form becomes legal once it is notarized and filed at the office of Vital Records or Office of Health Statistics for your state. If you sign at your child’s birth, you will not need to pay a fee to file the affidavit form. There may be a small fee to later add the father to the child’s birth certificate. If you do not sign the form when the child is born, you can do it at a later date. You can get the form at the hospital, local health department, child support office, county Registrar of Local Records, County Clerk’s Office, or the state Office of Vital Records. This option should be used only when both the man and the mot 3. Go to court to establish paternity. This is used when the alleged father refuses to voluntarily acknowledge paternity. The process may determine if a man is the legal father of the child. If the father is given legal papers to appear at a genetic test or in court and he doesn’t show up, paternity may be established by default. Sometimes a parent may want proof that the man is the biological father of the child before he is named the legal father, and either parent may request genetic testing. The court will issue an order establishing paternity. This may require a genetic test. Most tests take a swab in the mouth from the inner cheeks of the child and each parent. It does not hurt, and they do not take blood for paternity tests. Each state may have different requirements for establishing paternity, and some situations may be more complicated. For example, if the mother was married to another man. If you need help establishing paternity, contact your local child support office. |