In this blog, we will be going over paternity and non marital children in Michigan. If you have any legal questions then give Goldman and Associates a call to learn more, or check out our Youtube channel with over 400 videos relating to all Michigan legal matters. While not as strongly protected as other vulnerable groups, non-marital children still enjoy some protection from government discrimination. The government must show that the discrimination is substantially related to an important government purpose (intermediate scrutiny). That said, federal courts will not uphold any legislation whose sole purpose is to punish non -marital children.
Laws that deny inheritance, deny child support, denial of government benefits, or even barring them from wrongful death suits for the deaths of their other parents will not be upheld. The courts have also struck down statutes of limitation on paternity suits. The only such law that has been allowed to stand is one which granted immigration preference to marital children.
Questions and Answers
I am unmarried, and my child was born on foreign soil, is that child still a U.S. citizen?
If you are an American woman, the government and the courts will automatically grant and recognize your child’s citizenship. However, an unmarried American man will have to take certain steps to prove his child’s citizenship.
Michigan has a law called the Acknowledgement of Parentage Act for just such an occasion. If both of you sign a document acknowledging that both of you are the parents of this child, the initial custody will go to the mother. However, this does not in any way hurt the father’s chances of gaining ultimate custody. Final custody will be decided by either the court or an agreement between the parents.
I am not married to the mother of my children, but she is keeping me from seeing them. Is there anything I can do?
Michigan family law will still protect an unmarried father’s due process right to have a relationship with his children. However, this only applies if he has actually helped raise the child and has shown that he is committed to the responsibilities and obligations of fatherhood. Does he supervise the child daily? Has he helped at all with the child’s education?
If the child is an infant, the father must have demonstrated a willingness to assume sole custody of the child if that ever becomes necessary. He cannot simply prevent others from adopting in the case of the mother’s death. The court will also consider whether or not he has publicly acknowledged the child as his and whether he has helped pay any of the expenses from the pregnancy or birth.
I am not married to the mother of my child, do I have legal custody over that child?
Not automatically. The mother, by virtue of giving birth, is automatically given maternity and legal custody of the child. Unless you married her soon after she gave birth, you’re going to have to work a little harder to get legal custody. You can hold the child out as your biological child, put your name on the birth certificate, or formally acknowledge paternity. The same result will also occur if there is a successful suit to establish paternity.
You can file a suit to establish paternity. Such a lawsuit can be brought by you, your mother, the alleged father, or any family independence agency that is currently supporting you. If you succeed, the alleged father will have to pay child support, gain visitation rights, and can even apply for physical custody of you. You should be aware that there is a statute of limitations. The suit must be brought before your (the child’s) 18th birthday.
There is a variety of evidence that you can use to prove paternity. Photographs showing a physical resemblance, statements by the father acknowledging paternity, testimony by a doctor, and blood/genetic samples are all good examples. Be careful, because if your genetic evidence shows that he cannot be your father, then the case will be dismissed automatically. On the other hand, if he completely refuses to submit to such testing, then the court will enter a default judgment against him. The records of paternity suits are usually sealed.
Conclusions
Paternity orders can be difficult to deal with so call our attorneys today to get the best results in your case. No matter what your situation may be, our team at Goldman and Associates can help you through the process. If you need more information on Non-Marital Children And Paternity in The State of Michigan contact Goldman and Associates Law Firm. At Goldman and Associates, our attorneys are experts in family law and they will thoroughly examine all aspects of your divorce. With the best lawyers in Michigan, Goldman and Associates takes each and every case very seriously and gives you the outcome you desire.
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