In Connecticut, the family court tends to favor arrangements where both parents remain active participants in the lives of any children they share. While the children’s best interests remain the priority, the court will ensure the children have access to and quality time with both parents.
When you need assistance asserting your rights as a father following a divorce, you should obtain an experienced attorney. A Milford father’s rights lawyer can guide you through the process and ensure you understand all the options available to safeguard your rights.
The legal process of asserting a father’s rights depends on the circumstances; a skilled Milford attorney can offer guidance on the most effective and strategic course of action. For example, when a married couple has children, the law presumes the father is the biological parent. Should the couple decide to divorce, the father can immediately seek to assert his custodial rights.
However, when children are born to an unmarried couple, the father’s rights and obligations are not automatically presumed—the court must first establish paternity. The father typically establishes paternity in one of two ways. When the parents agree that the father is the children’s biological parent, they can sign an acknowledgment of paternity form. When the parents disagree, the prospective father can go to court. The family court then typically asks the prospective father to submit to a DNA test to confirm paternity.
Once paternity is established, through a court order or an acknowledgment of paternity form, the father can pursue associated rights and take on certain duties, such as custodial access and the requirement to pay child support.
Once paternity is established, the court will hear evidence as to the parents’ proposed parenting plan arrangements before deciding on one that best serves the children’s best interests.
There are two forms of custody. Legal custody determines which parent makes decisions that affect the children’s well-being and direction in life, such as where they go to school or receive medical care. Physical custody determines where the children live. In some parenting plans, parents split legal and physical custody. In others, one parent may have legal custody while both share physical custody, or one parent may have both legal and physical custody.
These arrangements can take any number of forms. When a father does not receive physical custody, he can seek visitation rights for continued access to the children. A lawyer in Milford can help a father protect his rights through the legal process of seeking custody and visitation privileges.
A Milford father’s rights lawyer can walk alongside you throughout your case. An attorney can answer your questions and ensure you understand the full range of legal actions available to you so that you can assert your right to be in your children’s lives. Retain the legal representation you need and deserve. Call now to arrange your consultation with one of our attorneys.
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