San Antonio Mistaken Paternity Attorney

San Antonio Mistaken Paternity Lawyer Serving Bexar County

Being a legal parent involves more than rights granting you custody or visitation with the child. You are also obligated to financially support and care for the child. Until 2011, men who believed they were the father of a child based either on mistake or fraud had little legal recourse for relief from these obligations in Texas. However, the state's laws now provide a procedure that will allow a person to challenge paternity if he later discovers that he is not the child's biological father. When addressing these issues, parents will need to be sure they are represented by a family law attorney who has a strong knowledge of the applicable laws and experience handling paternity cases and related matters.

Located in San Antonio, Brandon Wong & Associates is a law firm that can navigate the confusion surrounding complicated cases related to paternity and child custody. We have extensive experience addressing these complex issues, and we can make sure parents understand the procedures they will need to follow when challenging paternity or responding to other issues that will affect them and their children. We work to ensure that the best interests of children will be protected in these cases while helping our clients determine the best ways to resolve disputes successfully.

What Evidence Do You Need to Establish a Case for Mistaken Paternity?

Cases involving challenges to paternity are highly technical and very complicated. Paternity can generally only be challenged if it was initially established due to fraud (such as when a mother lies about the identity of a child's father), because of duress (such as when a person is threatened with physical harm by a member of the mother's family if he does not agree to acknowledge paternity), or because of a mistake of the facts (such as when a mother incorrectly believes that a man is the child's father). Even when you have sufficiently proven you are not the father of a child, the court may still enforce child custody orders based on what is in the best interests of the child. A presumed or acknowledged father will also remain liable to pay any court-ordered child support obligations up to the date of the termination of his parental rights.

There are general requirements for terminating parental rights based on mistaken paternity:

• A DNA paternity test must confirm that you are not the biological father of the child.
• Legal paternity must have been established without a paternity test either through an acknowledgment of paternity form or court order. In both cases, you must have mistakenly believed yourself to be the father.
• You relied on misrepresentations to come to the conclusion that you were the father.
• You did not sign an intended parental agreement involving in vitro fertilization, adoption, surrogacy, or other assisted reproductive methods.
• You must file a challenge to paternity prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations or deadline for your case. In most cases, this is one year after you discover the information that leads you to believe you may not be the father.

Contact Our San Antonio Paternity Challenge Attorneys

Terminating your parental rights based on mistaken paternity requires much more than a simple DNA test. Our lawyers know how to build a strong case for termination. We can make sure you meet all legal requirements to show that you are not a child's father. However, we will also make sure to address children's best interests in these cases so that the termination of parental rights will not cause them to suffer financial or emotional harm. We can discuss your situation with you in an initial consultation. Schedule your consultation by calling 210-201-3832 or sending us an email.