Parents have a moral and legal obligation to help support their children. Unfortunately, getting the financial support you need as a single parent can be complicated if the other parent does not cooperate. If you are a mother who wishes to get child support from your child’s father, there are several steps you may need to take. If you were not married to the child’s father when your child was born, there is no legal presumption of paternity. You must establish the father’s legal relationship to the child before you can get child support from him.
When the Father Acknowledges His Parentage
If your child’s father acknowledges that he is the child’s biological father, the process of establishing paternity is much easier. In many cases, the legal relationship between child and father is established by a document called a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP). You and the child’s father simply fill in the required information, include copies of your government-issued IDs, and sign the document. This is typically signed at the hospital and many refer to it indirectly, by saying they are on the birth certificate.
Unfortunately, the process is more involved if the father does not voluntarily acknowledge his parentage.
Establishing Paternity When the Father Refuses to Sign the VAP
If the father does not think that he is the child’s biological father, wants to evade financial responsibility for the child, or otherwise refuses to sign the VAP, you may wish to have a family law attorney help you establish parentage, child support and other child expenses, such as health insurance. A big advantage of having an attorney, is to help deal with the parenting allocation (formerly custody and visitation) issues that naturally follow.
Some go through the state to seek an administrative paternity order. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS) is the branch of the Illinois government that deals with paternity issues, but cannot help with parenting allocation (formerly custody and visitation) issues. The DHFS will contact the father and try to establish paternity without needing to go through the courts. If the father does not believe that he is the child’s biological father, the DHFS will schedule DNA paternity testing. If the father does not show up for the paternity test, the DHFS may automatically deem him to be the child’s father.
Common complaint of someone who has signed up for state services include a lack of communication, delays in processing, and the father’s response for parenting allocation (formerly custody and visitation) issues.
Ask your attorney to walk you through these issues, before you take legal action to establish paternity. If you seek to establish paternity through the court, you and the alleged father may request DNA testing, but only if he is within certain time limits. There may end up being a paternity hearing. If the father does not attend the hearing, he may be declared the father by default. Once paternity has been established, you can start the process of requesting child support, and related expenses, and maybe have him pay toward your fees as well. If the father requests parenting time, your attorney can answer your questions, and work to make sure safety concerns are considered by the court.