Paternity

Paternity Law in Ohio

John L. Heilbrun has over 30 years of experience helping clients with family and marital law problems including divorce, dissolution, Collaborative Divorce (Collaborative Law), Child Custody, Shared Parenting, Spousal Support/Alimony, Property and Debt Division, Paternity cases and Post Decree problems.

With conveniently located offices in both the Hyde Park and Blue Ash areas of Cincinnati, John Heilbrun offers representation to people experiencing such problems in Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren Counties.

When people who are not married have children together, it is necessary to determine the rights and responsibilities of the parents in relation to their children. By statute, the mother of a child who is born to parents who are not married is considered the child's "residential parent and legal custodian" until a contrary Order is issued by the Court. Despite this fact, if the father files an action to allocate parental rights and responsibilities, no legal preference is given to either the mother or father in making the determination as to what allocation of parental rights and responsibilities is in the child's best interest.

Jurisdiction to determine the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities for children who are born to parents who are not married is in the Juvenile Court. An action to determine the parent/child relationship between the father and the child may be brought either by the father or the mother, by the child's personal representative or by the Child Support Enforcement Agency. If the issue of paternity is contested, the Court may order DNA testing to provide evidence as to the likelihood that the alleged father is the child's natural father.

Once the child's paternity has been determined by Court Order, the child's father may ask that the Court designate him as the child's residential parent and legal custodian, or he may request that the Court approve a Shared Parenting Plan, or that the Court set forth specific parenting time between the father and the child. The same Ohio law that controls custody determinations between parents who are married, controls such determinations between parents of children who are not married. The ultimate decisions the Court must make is what allocation of parental rights and responsibilities will be in the child's best interest.

In paternity cases, child support also must be set and the same Guidelines and Child Support Worksheet are utilized in these cases as in cases where the mother and father were married. Child support can be made retroactive to the birth of the child, and the Court may also order the father to pay expenses related to the children's birth unless the child is over 3 years of age when the action is filed and prior to the filing of the paternity action, the Court finds that the father had no knowledge of, or reason to know, that he may be the father of the child.

John Heilbrun has the knowledge skill and experience to assist both Mothers and Fathers in these cases.