Unmarried Fathers Have Rights, Too

May 20, 2011

If you and your child's mother are not married when the child is born, you may feel like a second-class citizen. You probably think that your rights are completely contingent upon the whims of your child's mother. You may be afraid that you could lose the ability to live with or visit your child. Fortunately, though, Michigan laws recognize that you have rights when it comes to your children. The laws make it possible for you to be legally listed as the child's father, to make a claim for custody or visitation and to have the ability to make decisions about how your child is raised.

How to Prove You Are the Child's Father

Michigan -- like most other states -- has several different ways to recognize a child's parentage. Obviously, the most common way for a father to be legally established is for the parents to be married at the time of the child's birth. If the parents are married, the law automatically presumes that the husband is also the father of the child. This presumption can be rebutted, but the burden of rebutting it is on the person bringing the challenge against the man's parentage.

If the parents are unmarried, the law allows a man to be legally recognized as the father of a child if both he and the child's mother sign and file what is known as an "acknowledgement of parentage" form. This form is legally binding and puts the world on notice that both the mother and father recognize that the man is the biological father of the child in question.

Some states -- but not Michigan -- have something known as a "putative father registry." This is a database in which men who have voluntarily acknowledged paternity for a child they fathered out of wedlock provide contact information about themselves. Being a part of the registry grants fathers the right to be notified if any significant changes occur in the child's status, like if the child is put into foster care or put up for adoption.

How to File a Michigan Paternity Action

Should the father of a child born out of wedlock and the child's mother be unable to come to an agreement about the child's parentage, the father has the right under Michigan law to file a paternity action. This can be done in one of two ways. A father can file -- before or after the child is born -- a "Notice of Intent to Claim Paternity." Or, a father has the option of waiting until after a child is born and waiting for a DNA test to be performed before filing a paternity action.

Michigan's Paternity Act does one have unique aspect to its paternity laws -- if a mother is married during the birth of another man's child, the biological father does not have the right to visit the child (or the obligation to pay child support) -- without the mother's acquiescence. The two parents can, however, agree upon paternity by filing an affidavit with the appropriate state social service authority.

Making Arrangements for Child Support

Once paternity has been established, a father now has the same rights and obligations as any other parent. This includes having input into decisions concerning the child, spending quality time with the child and being responsible for supporting the child. A mother has the right to request that an established father pay financial support payments, and the father is obligated to do so.

Child support payments in Michigan are established according to guidelines set forth in the state's statutes. The guidelines take into account the income, age, health and overall economic situation of both parties in order to set a support amount that is fair and equitable for the parties yet provides adequate support for the children involved.

Filing for Custody or Parenting Time

Legally recognized fathers have the right to file actions seeking sole or joint custody of their children as well as actions seeking visitation (legally known as "parenting time") with the kids. While it is true that traditionally mothers were most often granted custody, times are changing. Many more unmarried fathers than ever before are successful in their attempts to spend quality time with their children. The courts are mandated to act in the best interests of the children when making custody determinations -- and courts recognize that it is not always in the children's best interests to remain in the sole custody of their mother.

If you are an unmarried father who has questions about the parental rights granted to you by Michigan law, contact an experienced family law attorney in your area to learn more.

Article provided by Bailey Smith & Bailey, P.C.
Visit us at www.baileysmithbailey.com