Paternity

Paternity

LEGAL PATERNITY TESTING IN AMITE, LOUISIANA

In Louisiana, you are responsible to financially support your children until they reach the age of majority or graduate from high school or possibly indefinitely if they are not able to support themselves because of infirmity. That’s a big responsibility, one you don’t want to bear alone, and one you don’t want to bear for a child that’s not yours. Children inherit from their parents, so establishing legal paternity is important.

Ellen Cronin Badeaux, LLC can help you get legal paternity testing done in Amite, Louisiana and, depending on the paternity test’s results, help you seek the child support or inheritance you need to take care of your child’s physical, emotional, medical and education needs.

Establishing Paternity according to Louisiana Law

In Louisiana, there is a distinction between biological and legal paternity. A man is not financially responsible for a child until legal paternity has been established. Legal paternity is assumed when a child is born to a married couple. But if a child is born to an unwed mother and father, there are two ways to establish legal paternity:

> The father can sign an Affidavit of Acknowledgement (this may be done at the time of birth)
> The father can be court-ordered to take a genetic paternity test to show with 99.9% certainty that he is/is not the biological father

Even if a man is willing to sign an Affidavit of Acknowledgement to establish legal paternity, testing is strongly encouraged. Mail-away kits can test for paternity and can then be confirmed by a lab.

Why Establishing Paternity Matters

Establishing legal paternity is about more than just making sure a non-custodial parent financially supports his child. Establishing paternity is about making sure that every child has access to all the benefits of knowing both parents including:

> A more complete sense of identity
> A complete medical history
> Claim to Social Security, Veteran’s and medical insurance benefits
> Claim to inheritance

If you’re in Amite, Louisiana and need help establishing legal paternity through genetic testing or seeking child support entitled to your child based on the results of paternity tests, Ellen Cronin Badeaux, LLC can help. Contact us today.

Call (985)-892-1955 to schedule a consultation with experienced family law attorneys in Amite, Louisiana.

Ellen Cronin Badeaux, LLC serves the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Livingston Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana. We are happy to help those in the communities of Amite, Baton Rouge, Chalmette, Covington, Denham Springs, Franklinton, Gonzales, Hammond, Livingston, Kenner , Madisonville, Mandeville, Metairie, New Orleans and Slidell.