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Many people are under the mistaken belief that the law gives mothers more rights than fathers in Texas. However, that is no longer the case. The new standard for determining rights to children is "Best Interest of the child." Under this standard in ...

Recently I have had more than one person ask me about establishing paternity and doing a name change after a father has passed away. There is an automatic presumption of paternity for children who are born during a marriage. However, the number of ...

The word paternity , simply put, means the legal determination of who the father of a child is. Being the biological father of a child is the first step towards becoming the legal father to a child, but without a determination, as to who is a child's ...

If there is a question as to who the biological father of a child is then it is likely that there will be a lawsuit filed in order to determine parentage . Either the Office of the Attorney General will file the case or the mother of the child will ...

The law in the state of Texas is that a man is legally presumed to be the father of any child that is born to his wife either during the course of their marriage or before the 301 st day after the marriage ends. The most common reasons that a ...

When two married people have a child, it is presumed that the father of the child is the mother’s husband. For that presumption to be rebutted, evidence to the contrary must be produced for a Court to rule otherwise. When unmarried people have a ...

If you are a mother reading this blog post and are questioning who is the biological father of your child it is likely that you have thought more than once about how much you wish you did not have to deal with this subject. I get it. As a father and ...

A big question most fathers ask is what rights they have to their child if they are not listed on the birth certificate. If a couple is married, it is always presumed that the husband is the father of the child, but it is not so simple if a couple ...

If it is unknown who the biological father of your child is, a paternity suit may be filed in order to make a legal determination of parentage. The reason that this type of family lawsuit may be filed is to not only create a legal relationship ...

Paternity fraud occurs when a mother tells a man that her child is the man’s biological offspring despite knowing that either the man is not the father of the child or he may not be the father of the child. While this is a problem that has existed ...

For the past couple days we have discussed paternity issues on our blog. An important document that is related to paternity is an Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP). This is the form that you and your child’s mother can formally declare you to be the ...

When a child is born in Texas and his or her parents are not married there the child will not have a legal father. Of course, the child has an actual father but that biological father must complete steps in order to become the legally recognized ...

If you are responsible for paying child support and are also facing the possibility of going to jail or prison for having committed a crime, you likely have a lot on your mind right now. At the forefront of your mind are hopefully questions about how ...

Houston Paternity Lawyer Paternity Actions in Texas If you suspect that you are the father of a child, you have the right to establish paternity. Sometimes, the child's mother may agree that you are the father, and you can sign an affidavit ...

A former client of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC had a pretty nasty situation fall upon him that required the help of a family law attorney . This gentleman was minding his own business one day when he received a letter from the Texas Attorney ...

If you are a mother who has just given birth to a son or daughter your concerns are likely related to making sure that child is safe, healthy and well provided for in the years to come. These are understandable and well justified concerns but there ...

There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is more than one way to establish paternity in Texas. Let’s start off today’s blog post by going through each of the three options. As an aside, I will be writing about each method from the vantage ...

In the past 12 months, my office has represented three different Husbands each going through their own Texas divorce who all had cases in which their wife has had a child with another man. The facts of each case have varied in some of the cases the ...

It is a weekly if not a daily occurrence that fathers reach out to us to find out what their rights are in Texas in regards to their children. In the state of Texas, family law protects a father’s paternal rights to his children. If a couple has ...

The importance of paternity in a child support case If you are the presumed father of a child but have not yet been declared legally as the child’s father then you have work yet to be done. Paternity creates a legal relationship between you as the ...

I met with a mother recently that who had questions about custody and child support for her children. One of her concerns was whether the fact that she and the father were never married and if that would make a difference? Today’s blog post will be ...

In the event that you and your spouse are getting a divorce and you are not represented by an attorney then today’s blog post should be helpful to you. In most divorce decrees a parenting plan will be included which contains the vast majority of the ...

It is not uncommon for fathers who consult with me regarding obtaining their father’s rights to ask about changing their child’s last name and adding th Birth Certificateeir name to child’s birth certificate. There are many reasons why their name may ...

A scenario that a potential client recently presented to our office involved a mother wanting to add the father of her child to his birth certificate. The complicating factor was that the father is now deceased. When a woman and a man have a child ...

For many of you reading this blog you probably have no idea how to begin a child support case . It could be that as the noncustodial parent of your child you have limited access right now even to see your child. Starting a child support case may be ...

If you are a father to a child and are not together with the child’s mother you may have questions about how you can positively impact your child’s life. Maybe the mother won’t let you see the child for some reason- or no reason at all. Maybe you are ...

Generally speaking, the payment of child support is intended to ensure that the child has the financial wherewithal to grow up to be successful members of society. Whether that child support comes about from a divorce , child custody or paternity ...

I get questions frequently from clients and potential clients regarding a wide range of subjects. I hear a lot of interesting things, but normally the questions do not cause me to do any mental gymnastics. However, I recently had a consult with a ...

In Texas, the Office of the Attorney General oversees the payment of child support . It is likely that if you already have a child support order in place, you are mandated to send those payments through the Office of the Attorney General. If you do ...

Once the father of your child signs an Acknowledgment of Paternity he will become the legal father of your child as soon as you also sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity stating he is the father, as well. From that point forward, he will be ...