http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Custody-and-Child-Support/Federal/index.html LawInfo - Legal Resource Center offers free Custody and Child Support legal forms and free Custody and Child Support legal documents that is designed to help consumers and businesses resolve their legal issues http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Custody-and-Child-Support/Federal/do-i-need-to-hire-a-lawyer-to-establish-or-en.html Every state has child support agencies that are set up to help you establish and enforce a child support order.&nbsp; By filling out a short application and submitting a copy of your support order, if one already exists, you easily can enlist the help of your local child support office.&nbsp; These offices offer free child support services to people who receive public assistance, such as Temporary Aid to Needy Families (&ldquo;TANF&rdquo;), Medicaid, or food stamps.&nbsp; Even if you don&rsquo;t receive any sort of public assistance, you can still get help with a child support order by paying a fee of approximately $25.00.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> You can also hire a lawyer in private practice to help you establish and/or enforce a child support order.&nbsp; This can be particularly wise when you not only have child support issues with your ex, but you also are having other problems with your ex that concern your child.&nbsp; While federal law requires that state and local child support agencies assist you in establishing and/or enforcing a child support order, you need to remember that these agencies deal strictly with child support, and not with any other issues concerning your child for which you might need help.&nbsp; Issues such as child custody and visitation are extraordinarily important to you, your ex, and most of all, your child, and often must be dealt with through the court system.&nbsp; For these types of issues, you are well advised to hire a lawyer who specializes in family law matters.<br /> <br /> Whether you are working with a private lawyer or a lawyer from a child support agency, he or she will guide you through the often complex process of filing the appropriate paperwork with the court system in order to get a child support order.&nbsp; A lawyer can help you locate your ex, properly and legally serve your ex with notice that you want a child support order, and document any income that your ex receives.&nbsp; A lawyer can also help you determine what financial information you need in order to properly calculate a child support obligation for your ex.&nbsp; Calculating child support is often rather complicated, as well, and can require the use of specialized software programs.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> Once a child support is established, it can be difficult for some parents to enforce it.&nbsp; If your ex won&rsquo;t pay his or her child support, your only way to enforce the order is through your local child support office or your court system.&nbsp; Again, either a private lawyer or a child support office can help you with enforcement of your child support order.&nbsp; Both types of lawyers can obtain garnishment orders if your ex is employed, or file contempt of court proceedings against your ex for not following the court&rsquo;s child support order.&nbsp; Other remedies include intercepting tax refunds, placing holds on passports, and entering liens against vehicles and real estate.&nbsp; A lawyer is helpful in pursuing any of these enforcement remedies. Custody and Child Support Articles Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:10:29 GMT http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Custody-and-Child-Support/Federal/how-to-establish-paternity.html <div>With steadily rising numbers of children being born out of wedlock, and a society that no longer stigmatizes having children outside of a marriage, paternity courts are overrun with unmarried litigants seeking to establish paternity, custody, visitation, child support and related matters regarding their children.&nbsp;Fortunately, paternity court is not the only means of establishing paternity, and family laws are changing to accommodate the reality of unmarried parents and their children.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>In general, state laws provide for both voluntary and involuntary paternity proceedings.&nbsp;In order to ease the establishment of paternity, many states in recent years have provided a mechanism by which a putative father, or the alleged father of a child born out of wedlock, can voluntarily establish paternity by executing a sworn paternity affidavit or acknowledgement, which, when completed, establishes the father as the legal father of the child.&nbsp;Many couples who are unmarried, but intend to reside together with their child as a family unit, choose to execute such an affidavit or acknowledgment and/or otherwise place the father&rsquo;s name on the child&rsquo;s birth certificate, thus obviating the need for formal paternity proceedings in court.&nbsp;The downside to paternity affidavits, however, is when the parents&rsquo; relationship sours, and while paternity has been established, there are no formal court orders regarding custody, visitation, and/or child support.&nbsp;In this case, the family must visit the family court in order to establish applicable court orders regarding their child(ren).</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>All states laws also provide for the establishment of paternity through formal court proceedings, whether it is on a voluntary or involuntary basis.&nbsp;Typically, if paternity has not been otherwise established by affidavit or acknowledgment, the parties are given the opportunity to undergo genetic testing, or DNA testing, in order to determine whether a putative father is the biological father of a child.&nbsp;Given the accuracy of DNA testing, participating in a DNA test usually resolves the issue of whether a putative father is in fact the biological father of the child.&nbsp;The parties then would proceed to a court hearing at which paternity is established, and orders are issued regarding custody, visitation, child support, and/or other related issues.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Additionally, many states presume that if a child is born during a marriage, then the husband is the father of the child.&nbsp;In some states, this presumption can be rebutted by undergoing DNA testing, which can conclusively prove otherwise.&nbsp;However, in other states, there is no DNA testing or other method to disprove paternity that is legally available if a child was born during an intact marriage, even if all parties concerned know that the husband is not the biological father of the child.&nbsp;This can lead to non-biological fathers being responsible for the needs of the children, including the legal duty to pay child support in some instances.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>A similar situation arises when a putative father signs the paternity affidavit or acknowledgement, while at the same time realizing that he is not, or at least might not be the biological father of the child.&nbsp;Likewise, a putative father might rely on the mother&rsquo;s assertions that he is the only possible biological father of the child in choosing to sign the informal documents needs to establish paternity.&nbsp;In many jurisdictions, such a father is the legal father of the child, even if it is later proven or alleged that he is not the child&rsquo;s biological father.&nbsp;In these cases, there may be no legal recourse for a legal father who is in fact not a biological father, and who is bound to legally support the child throughout his or her minority.&nbsp;</div> Custody and Child Support Articles Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:06:50 GMT http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Custody-and-Child-Support/Federal/termination-of-parental-rights.html <div>A legal termination of parental rights differs significantly from simply agreeing to not seek custody and/or visitation with a child.&nbsp;While parents are typically free to choose to live apart from or refrain from visiting with their children, they likely have a legal right to do so if they so choose.&nbsp;On the other hand, a legal termination of parental rights permanently prohibits a parent from having any legal rights to the child, including the right to custody of the child, the right to visit or have any contact with the child, and the right to have any input in decisions made regarding the child.&nbsp;Termination of parental rights also relieves a parent of the responsibility to financially support his or her child.&nbsp;Every state has different laws that govern the termination of parental rights, and there are different situations in which a court may order that a person&rsquo;s parental rights be terminated.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>One of the most common proceedings in which parental rights are terminated is through abuse and neglect proceedings.&nbsp;While the specific circumstances under which termination of parental rights can occur varies somewhat from state to state, some common situations include abuse and/or neglect of a child by a parent, placing the child in danger by engaging in criminal activity, leaving the child without a home due to the incarceration of both parents, or being unable to care for the child due to alcohol and/or drug dependency.&nbsp;In these types of cases, the state alleges that a parent is unable or unfit to care for his or her child, and that it would be in the best interest of the child that parental rights be terminated.&nbsp;Prior to a termination of parental rights occurring, the state usually must have made some effort to involve the parents in the abuse and neglect proceedings, and engage the parents in working toward reunification with their children.&nbsp;It is only when these efforts fail, or when parents refuse or choose not to cooperate with the state regarding reunification with their children, that a termination of parental rights occurs. </div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Another circumstance in which parental rights are terminated is through adoption proceedings.&nbsp;In a routine adoption case, adoption proceedings legally and permanently terminate the biological parents&rsquo; parental rights to the child.&nbsp;It is common for biological parents to consent to an adoption, thus voluntarily terminating their parental rights.&nbsp;However, some states have laws under which a biological parent&rsquo;s consent to adoption is not required in some situations, usually because the parent has failed to maintain contact with or financially support the child for a lengthy period of time.&nbsp;Likewise, in a stepparent adoption situation, the stepparent becomes the legal parent of the child through adoption proceedings, which results in the termination of the biological parent&rsquo;s parental rights, whether it occurs voluntarily or involuntarily.&nbsp;In this situation, if the biological parent agrees to the stepparent adoption, or if the biological parent&rsquo;s consent is not required by law, then the adoption will be granted, and the biological parent&rsquo;s rights will be terminated, so long as the court agrees that the adoption would be in the best interests of the child.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Whatever the circumstances leading to a termination of parental rights, all courts use the standard of &ldquo;best interest of the child&rdquo; in determining whether termination of parental rights is appropriate.&nbsp;Some states&rsquo; laws regarding this standard are very general, in stating only that the child&rsquo;s safety, health, and welfare must be protected.&nbsp;In other states, however, the court must consider a specific list of factors in determining whether termination is in the best interests of a child.&nbsp;Some common factors considered by courts under the best interest of the child standard include the age of the child, the specific health needs of the child, the child&rsquo;s desires if the child is of a certain age, and the mental and emotional needs of the child.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> Custody and Child Support Articles Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:11:30 GMT http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Adoption-Law-Family/Federal/index.html Free Adoption Law Articles Family Law Sub-categories Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:45:08 GMT http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Articles/Child-Abuse/Federal/index.html Free Child Abuse Articles Family Law Sub-categories Fri, 27 Nov 2009 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