The Importance of Completing a Paternity Case
The best time for a father to complete a paternity case is when the parties are getting along. I’m Oklahoma lawyer James Wirth, and that’s the topic that we’re dealing with.
I mean, we get a lot of calls from fathers who are having difficulties getting along with their former spouses. The mother may be denying that they’re the father. The mother may be denying them visitation and making other things difficult for them. They call a lawyer, they lawyer up, they get the documents drafted, they get filed with the court, and then sometimes they start getting along a little bit better and things are going well and the mother’s allowing the father visitation and everything’s great and they’re like, oh, why are we spending so much money going to court? We can just do this on our own.
Why You Should Complete a Paternity Case When Getting Along
The answer is, yeah, I suppose you can, but the best time for a father to get a paternity case done is when they are getting along. Because if you can get an agreement in place, it can be drafted up, signed by the parties, put in the judge’s box, and you can have a court order that establishes your rights in an enforceable way.
Because anything outside of court, if it’s a paternity case, is not enforceable. Sometimes people are like, well, we’ve got it written up and it’s notarized by both parties. Well, that’s a good indication of what your agreement was on that day, but it is not enforceable. It does not establish your rights. If you didn’t sign an acknowledgment of paternity, then it’s not gonna get you on the birth certificate.
So, just because you’re getting along, that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop the case, that means it’s time to finish the case quickly and efficiently to get that order on file that in the future, if you stop getting along, you have something to fall back on, an enforceable order, and you have something that shows you are the father and your rights are established.
Take Action Now and Schedule a Strategy Session
So that’s the answer, when is the best time to complete a custody case? It is when you are getting along. Don’t just assume everything’s gonna keep going the way they are, get that order in place, and complete it that way. If you’re dealing with a scenario like this, you wanna talk to an attorney privately and confidentially to get legal advice for your specific circumstances.
To get that scheduled with a Tulsa paternity attorney at my office, you can go online to MakeLawEasy.com for an initial strategy session. Take the first step towards securing your rights as a father.
