Passionate Advocacy for Our Clients

Establishing paternity is a life-changing process. Due to the high stakes involved, it is crucial that you have trusted legal help on your side. At Laura Eckstein Law, our La Grande paternity attorney can work with you to overcome the legal obstacles you may face and fight for your desired outcome.

 

Why Is Establishing Paternity Important?

Establishing paternity simply means determining who is the legal father of the child is. This is beneficial because it allows the father certain rights in his child's life that would not otherwise be available.

 

Paternity must be established so that the father is allowed to do the following:

• Get a support order for the child

• Bequeath property or money to the child after he dies

• Obtain a healthcare order or medical support order for the child

• Provide the child with access to his medical history and his family's medical history

 

How Paternity Is Established in Oregon

Paternity is automatically established when the parents are married to each other at the time of the child's birth. If the parents are not married at the time of the child's birth, paternity must be established through a legal process.

 

The following are other ways that paternity can be legally established:

• Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity: When both the mother and father agree that he is the father, they can legally establish his paternity by filling out the Voluntary Acknowledgement of paternity form.

• Declaration in support of establishing paternity: A mother can fill out this form in order to establish paternity. This form can be filled out with or without the potential father's acknowledgment.

 

If the father in question doesn't believe the child is his or there is a question to whose child it is, genetic testing is available to answer the question.