Paternity in Northern New Jersey

When a married couple or unmarried domestic partners end their relationship, or any couple give birth to a baby and need to determine for various reasons, their rights and obligations, under New Jersey law they need to discuss their case with a knowledgeable matrimonial lawyer like Glen Haley who has worked closey with Rafael Gomez in certain matrimonial cases .  This sitaution may require legal action and is usually handled in the Superior Court.  This is the action which determines child support, parenthood rights, custody, visitation, time-sharing arrangements and establishes the rights and privileges of parenting to the parties involved.

DNA Testing

Any man who is said to be the father of a child is entitled, under New Jersey law, to a paternity DNA blood or saliva test to prove or disprove fatherhood.   The man should also seek legal counsel in such a proceeding before fatherhood is judged to be true or not and NJ child support set. The state of NJ recognizes both parents equally with regard to child custody and child support and it is awarded on assessing a number of facts concerning each party. The Court will look at the parenting capabilities of both, physical and mental health, ability to provide financially and emotionally as well as environmentally for the child, to name a few.

If paternity is challenged by the father, it may not be resolved until the child is born.  At which time testing is done and if the child is already born, temporary child support may be awarded during the time paternity is factually established or denied by an order from the court.

If the man is found not to be the father, he may still be obligated to pay child support if the father is deemed by the court to be the child's "psychological father".  This means that the father may have held himself out to be the child's father for a lengthy period of time without challenging paternity. During that time he may have provided financial and emotional support to the mother and child and the biological father was never part of the child's life. If the child is old enough to have considered the non-biological father his real father and became emotionally dependent on the father, the court will order the non-biological father to pay child support.

Paternity is a serious matter - affecting your life forever.  There are many ramifications in choosing to seek paternity-either to prove or disprove it.  Whether the situation is a man who is unmarried but devoted and wanting to claim the baby as his own, or is a case of a husband wanting to prove that the unborn child his wife is carrying is not his, but a result of her affair with another man, paternity is a life changing action. 

If you are considering pursuing a paternity matter in Bergen|Hudson|Passaic or Essex County, you do not have to work through it alone. An experienced and trusted paternity attorney like Glen Haley can guide you and aid in understanding the full legal ramification of how that paternity will influence your future.  Contact us today at (201) 646-9799.