Advice About Paternity and Unmarried Parents' Rights
Not all disputes concerning the interests of parents and the best interests of children come up in the context of divorce. Paternity actions, stepparent relationships and even domestic partnerships can all present you with both challenges and opportunities to stabilize a parent-child relationship, enforce a right to child support, or intervene in situations where you're convinced that the best interests of a child are being ignored.
Contact the Law Offices of Wendy Wood for a free consultation with an experienced Texas family law attorney. We can help you in situations such as the following:
- Determining or defending Texas paternity cases
- Establishing an unmarried father's right to shared child custody, primary custody or regular visitation
- Establishing the right of a stepparent to protect a relationship with a spouse's child
- Modifying or enforcing child support obligations under the Texas guidelines
- Defending people whose child support payments have gone into default
- Gay / lesbian partners' rights for children
Although the practical circumstances of unmarried parents are often very different from those of divorcing spouses, the legal and factual considerations that a family court applies in any of these cases are pretty much the same. They usually come down to defining the details of a child's right to support from a noncustodial parent, or establishing a secure and legally-protected relationship between a child and both parents, whether they were ever married or not.
We represent both mothers and fathers in Texas paternity proceedings
Because the parties to a paternity action are most often single people whose lifestyles sometimes lack the stability that we like to think characterizes married life, we know that much of our work to present your strongest possible case involves demonstrating your willingness and ability to meet your parental responsibilities effectively.
Whether you're a single mother or an unmarried father, we make sure that your strengths as a parent are fully displayed and protected from attack by your opponent. Our commitment to working closely with our clients can often make the decisive difference in a difficult case.
To learn more about our ability to represent your interests effectively in a paternity action or custody dispute between unmarried parents, contact a knowledgeable lawyer at the Law Offices of Wendy Wood in Houston or Bryan.
