People hear a lot about situations in which a baby’s mother has to practically force the man she believes is the father to take a paternity test. There are also situations in which the man is eager to prove he is the father but the mother wants nothing to do with him. This man will need a Family Law Lawyer in Rochester MN to make sure his rights are upheld if he wants to be involved in the child’s life.
Both Sides of Paternity Testing Refusal
When a man refuses to take a paternity test, the woman can typically get a court order compelling him to do so, with the assistance of a Family Law Lawyer in Rochester MN. She will probably need to provide evidence that he could be the father; this cannot simply be a baseless allegation.
A similar situation develops when the woman refuses to allow a paternity test. The lawyer will petition the court for an order to comply. A person on either side of this issue who needs assistance may contact an organization like Rolsch Law Offices.
Concerns
Sometimes the mother is afraid that the father will start legal action to have shared custody of the baby after paternity is established. She might not even want him to have visitation. She may be in a different, serious relationship or even married to someone else. Having this other person in her life because of the baby will be very disruptive. Yet the biological father normally has legal rights.
Preventing a paternity test may not be possible, but preventing the man from having unsupervised contact with the child could be done under certain circumstances. If it can be shown that visitation would likely have negative effects on the child, this could be brought forth in court.
Verbal and Written Agreements
It does not matter if the man originally agreed verbally that he would not pursue parental rights, depending on how much time has passed. He may have had a change of heart once the child was born or after he took some time to think things through. Informal agreements like that are not binding. He will have more difficulty if he signed a release form.
