Miami family law attorney blog
Viewing entries in
Paternity
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
For a male wishing to disestablish his paternity in Florida, time is of the essence. The law places the burden on a man who knows he is not the father of a child to take certain steps to preserve his argument that he should not be legally responsible for the child. The case DOR v. Augustin, 237 So.3d 1123 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) shows us what steps must be followed in order to disestablish paternity in Florida.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
In a case published just yesterday, the Third District Court of Appeal in Florida reversed a trial court order which mandated a paternity test as part of a stalking case. The case was presented to the appellate court as a writ for certiorari which can be sought when a party shows (1) a departure from the essential requirements of the law, (2) resulting in material injury for the remainder of the case, (3) that cannot be corrected on post-judgment appeal. See Llanos v. Huerta, 3D18-1902 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
The father of a child born outside of wedlock in Florida should take important steps to ensure that he has parental rights. Being named on a birth certificate does not automatically grant parental rights such as visitation and decision-making authority.
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
Disestablishing paternity in Florida requires careful and timely steps to be taken to ensure that a non-biological father is no longer legally responsible for a child. It is not enough to have a test confirming that a male is not biologically related to a child as we see in the case Fla. Dept. of Revenue v. Augustin, 3D16-622 (Fla. 3d DCA2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
The Florida Statutes contain voluminous sections regarding domestic relations, including divorce, child support, paternity and the like. Paternity is included in a different chapter under the statutes than divorce. For this reason, confusion arose as to the applicability of the attorneys’ fee statute to paternity cases, and this was discussed in a case published in the beginning of this year known as McNulty v. Bowser, 233 So.3d 1277 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018).
Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity
Father’s rights received a boost in Florida this year when the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision which clarified that biological fathers of children born in an intact marriage have the right to assert paternity. Before this ruling, the presumption that a child born to an intact marriage was the child of the husband of that marriage (even if not biologically related) defeated many biological father’s claims for paternity. Another recent case applies the new ruling to allow a biological father to pursue his parental rights over his twin children.
