A Father’s Rights When
There is A “Surprise” Child
One night stands can have serious lifelong consequences. It is
possible to conceive a child with a stranger that you only knew for one night.
It is even more devastating to discover this fact months or even years later,
and to have missed out on a large part of the child’s life. For some fathers,
the most natural thing is to seek out the child and try to start a relationship
to make up for lost
time.
The problem is this may not always be possible.
In Chicago, and throughout Illinois, an unmarried man who
discovers he has a child has to first establish that he is the father, if he is
not listed as the father on the child’s birth certificate. The father should petition the court to
assert this claim, and then request visitation and other custodial rights and
obligations. As in every case, the
father needs to show the court that it is in the child’s best interest to have visitation time with him. This may sound straightforward,
because all children should have a relationship with both parents absent any
abuse. However, it is not always straightforward if the father has never seen
(or had little contact with) the child, and you have to present a wide range of
evidence to the court to prove your case. Often, it can come down to the battle
of the experts if the mother does not believe contact is appropriate.
The Leading Example
If the mother of the child had acknowledged another man as the
child’s father (falsely), and the man had signed a Voluntary Acknowledgment of
Paternity (VAP) and was listed on the birth certificate as the father, the
situation can become quite complicated.
In a case (In re Parentage of J.W.) decided by the Illinois Supreme Court in
2013, a woman had a one night stand and became pregnant. Believing the child’s
father to be her boyfriend, she let him sign the “VAP” and he was listed on the
birth certificate. Years later, the man from the one night stand saw the child
on a social media website. Seeing a resemblance, he had a DNA test done to
determine the child’s paternity.
The mother and her boyfriend at the time, whom she had later
married, were divorced. The mother’s ex-husband had visitation with the child
and paid child support. The ex-husband argued that the biological father should
not have a relationship with the child because it would confuse her as to who
her father was. After both sides presented experts, the court decided that it
was in the child’s best interest to not have a relationship with her biological
father, until further yearly evaluations to see if she was ready.
Furthermore, visitation and child support are independent rights
and obligations. Hence, child support is
not dependent on the right to visitation, regardless of the outcome of the
litigation, so you may still be ordered to pay child support even if visitation
is denied. Additionally, the man who was previously acknowledged as the child’s
father may still have visitation rights and an obligation to pay child support
as well. In the case above, both the biological father and the ex-husband were
ordered to pay child support for the upkeep of the child.
Contact a Chicago AttorneyIn cases like these, how you present your evidence can be the determining factor in whether you get visitation rights. You need an experienced attorney to help you gather evidence and hire the right experts to support your case. If you are an unmarried father who would like visitation with your child, contact the Chicago legal professionals at M. Scott Gordon & Associates for a consultation on your case.
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