As more and more couples opt to start families before or without getting married, paternity testing is topping many New Year's resolution lists. According to the study results released by Identigene, over half of those in the study who had paternity-related questions planned to resolve them in 2012. Identigene sells an at-home paternity testing kit that is available in major pharmacies.
There are many reasons for establishing that a person is or is not a child's father. Georgia's fathers' rights attorneys have worked with men who want to establish paternity in order to legitimate a child and pursue custody or visitation rights. Mothers may use a paternity test as part of the process of seeking child support.
Paternity and Legitimation in Georgia
In Georgia, there is a presumption of paternity for children born during a marriage. When a husband and wife have children while married to each other, according to the law, both are the legal parents of the child(ren) and have equal rights to custody and visitation and a duty to support the children if the marriage ends in divorce.
For children born out of wedlock, there is no similar presumption. Paternity (fatherhood) must be established and, if a father wants to assert rights to custody and visitation, an action to Legitimate the child must be filed with the court. If a father is not granted or does not pursue Legitimation, the mother is entitled to full custody over the child.
Georgia's fathers' rights to children born to unmarried parents depend on a successful Legitimation action.