Tustin Paternity Lawyer

Paternity, also known as a “parentage action,” arises as an issue for unmarried parents who share a child. Paternity must be established in order to obtain court orders pertaining to child custody and visitation or child support. If you need to establish paternity as either the mother or the father of a child, the Law Office of Tracey Lundquist, APC can help. We represent both men and women in this matter before local courts in Southern California, including Orange and LA Counties, Whittier, Pomona, Long Beach, Riverside, and San Bernardino. Our attorney is well-versed in the complex legal and emotional issues often associated with paternity cases and brings extensive knowledge and commitment to your case. 

Connect with our Tustin paternity attorney at the Law Office of Tracey N. Lundquist, APC online or at (714) 949-1711 to book a consultation about your case.

How Paternity Is Established

A paternity action may be pursued by either the mother or the alleged father through the courts. An unmarried mother may seek to have paternity established in order to obtain a court order requiring the father to pay child support. An unmarried father may seek to prove his paternity in order to establish his legal right to parent his child through a custody order. Courts in California work on the basis of the child’s best interests and recognize that children do best by having an ongoing and meaningful relationship with both parents. 

Paternity can be established in two ways:

• Through a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity, a document acknowledging the paternity by both parents and usually completed when the child is born
• By court order

If the Voluntary Declaration is not executed, the court’s task is to determine paternity. If a parent fails to cooperate in this matter, a court order is required to establish paternity through DNA testing. Once DNA testing proves the father’s paternity, custody and visitation as well as child support orders can be sought to enforce parental rights. 

Establishing paternity is often the first step in family proceedings which is why it is so important to begin with effective representation. Paternity actions have an enormous impact on the lives of parents and their children. Having a sound legal advocate on your side is critical to reaching a parenting schedule that supports the child’s best interests. 

Our law firm concentrates its practice on family law only. We have handled numerous paternity cases as well as countless child custody and support cases. Backed by such ratings as Avvo “Superb”  and a listing in Super Lawyers, you can be confident that your case is in the hands of a true professional.