Paternity

The attorneys at the law firm of Phyllis G. Bossin Co., L.P.A., in Cincinnati, represent both mothers and fathers in establishing paternity, parenting arrangements and child support obligations.

When individuals who are not married have a child together, it is necessary to formally establish paternity of the child. The jurisdiction for paternity and related actions is in the juvenile court.

An action to determine the parent-child relationship may be brought by the birth mother, the putative father, the child or the child’s personal representative, the child support enforcement agency if the mother is receiving assistance or the father’s representative. A paternity action may be brought in the county in which the mother, father or child resides. The court may order DNA testing to determine the parent-child relationship.

Once paternity is established by court order, the father may petition the court to be designated as the residential parent and legal custodian of the child, to have shared parenting or for parenting time with the child in a separate and new proceeding. Ohio Revised Code 3109.04 controls the custody determination and is the same statute that is used in the domestic relations court. The court, therefore, must determine what is in the best interests of the child.

Child support must also be set. The Ohio child support guidelines apply equally in a paternity proceeding. The court may make a child support order retroactive to the birth of the child and may order payment of birth expenses, unless the child is over three years old when the paternity action is brought and prior to filing the paternity action, the putative father had no knowledge of, or had no reason to have knowledge of, his alleged paternity of the child. The mother may show that she performed a reasonable and documented effort to contact and notify the alleged father of his paternity.

Litigation concerning the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities and parenting time, as well as litigation on child support issues in the juvenile court, can be complicated and complex, and requires a highly skilled and very experienced trial lawyer. Phyllis G. Bossin Co., L.P.A. brings an unsurpassed level of skill and competence to paternity and related proceedings.

To learn more or to set up a consultation, contact our office in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 513-421-4420 or use our online contact form.