The first step in a paternity lawsuit in Florida is to file a Petition to Establish Paternity with the Clerk of Courts and serve the lawsuit along with a summons upon the Respondent in the case.  A common misstep that many litigants make in family court is to file petitions pro se without retaining a paternity lawyer who is experienced and knowledgeable in drafting legal documents.  Most times documents that are filed without the counsel of an attorney are legally deficient and often need to be re-drafted at additional expense down the road.  Issues regarding establishing paternity, child support and time-sharing between parties who are not married and are not living together can often be an emotionally charged affair and although the issues are usually quite straightforward, paternity cases can sometimes develop into drawn out litigation if the parties cannot agree on child support and/or time-sharing.  

      If the father executed documents at the hospital where the child was born acknowledging that he is the father, then under Florida law, paternity is deemed to have been legally established.  If an individual believing to be a minor child's biological father files and serves a Petition to Establish Paternity upon the mother of the child, then the mother can either admit that the petitioner is the father is the father of the child or she can deny that the petitioner is the biological father in her answer to the petition.  If the mother denies that the petitioner is the father, then it is encumbent upon the petitioner to motion the court to order scientific DNA testing in order to establish paternity.  Fort Lauderdale paternity lawyer Antonio D. Quinn has handled many paternity cases in Broward County and is experienced in obtaining orders for scientific DNA testing from the courts in paternity cases in Florida.  

     Once paternity has been established as a matter of law, then child support is calculated based upon how much money each parent makes and how much time that they have the child pursuant to the time-sharing agreement between the parties.  If a mother has established paternity then in most cases arrears for back child support is ordered by the court if child support had not previously been paid.  So, child support cannot be calculated until time-sharing has either been agreed to between the parties or ordered by the court.  If the parties cannot agree on time-sharing then it is crucial to retain an experienced paternity lawyer because battles for time-sharing in the courts can often become litigious and complicated due to the many factors which a court takes into account in determining what time-sharing plan is in the best interest of the child.  The "best interest of the child" is the standard applied by Florida courts in determining time-sharing Parties who are unrepresented by a competent paternity attorney are vulnerable to be taken advantage of during this stage of a paternity case as other party's attorney will likely use their knowledge of the law to skew the court's favor toward that of their client when determining time-sharing.  In some cases if one of the parents is demonstrated to be unfit to care for the minor child by the other party, then the court may award sole parental responsibility to one parent or may may order time-sharing only with a court supervisor present at the party's expense.  Having an aggressive and experienced paternity lawyer in your corner will maximize your chances of being able to develop a long-term parental relationship with your child.  

       In Broward County, in all paternity cases in which there is a dispute regarding a major issue such as time-sharing, the court will require the parties to attend mediation before setting a hearing to make a judicial determination regarding the issue.   The parties are far more likely to be able to resolve their case via mediation if both parties are represented by experienced family law attorneys.  Ft. Lauderdale paternity attorney Antonio D. Quinn has attained outstanding negotiating skills through his many years of criminal practice and has an excellent working relationship with many of the judges and attorneys in South Florida.  Skilled negotiation has resulted in a favorable resolution for the clients of Quinn Law, P.A. on a great many occasions.  

     If you are a mother of a minor child seeking child support from an individual who you believe to be the biological father of your child or if you believe that you are the father of a child and wish to establish paternity and/or time-sharing in order to develop a relationship with the child, then please contact Quinn Law, P.A. at (954) 729-7770 or toll free at (844) ADQ-LAW4 to set up a free consultation today.