DISESTABLISHING PATERNITY IN FLORIDA

Disestablishing paternity in Florida can occur if you meet the requirements. Before going further, you must understand the difference between being a “biological father” and a “legal father.”

A biological father provides the DNA necessary to create a child. Being the biological father does not necessarily confer any legal rights. A legal father has the rights of a parent, including the obligation of providing child support. You are a legal father if: (1) you are married to the mother at the time the child is born, (2) if you agree that you are legally responsible for the child, (3) by court order based on a Petition To Determine Paternity, or (4) you are identified on the birth certificate as being the father.

FILING A PETITION TO DISESTABLISH PATERNITY

To disestablish paternity in Florida, the legal father (who is not the biological father) must file a Petition To Disestablish Paternity and Terminate Child Support. Florida Statute 742.18 identifies what you must allege in the petition. The statute states that the petition must include the following:

(a) An affidavit executed by the petitioner that newly discovered evidence relating to the paternity of the child has come to the petitioner’s knowledge since the initial paternity determination or establishment of a child support obligation.

(b) The results of scientific tests that are generally acceptable within the scientific community to show a probability of paternity, administered within 90 days prior to the filing of such petition, which results indicate that the male ordered to pay such child support cannot be the father of the child for whom support is required, or an affidavit executed by the petitioner stating that he did not have access to the child to have scientific testing performed prior to the filing of the petition. A male who suspects he is not the father but does not have access to the child to have scientific testing performed may file a petition requesting the court to order the child to be tested.

(c) An affidavit executed by the petitioner stating that the petitioner is current on all child support payments for the child for whom relief is sought or that he has substantially complied with his child support obligation for the applicable child and that any delinquency in his child support obligation for that child arose from his inability for just cause to pay the delinquent child support when the delinquent child support became due.

The court will grant the petition if it finds that the above criteria have been satisfied and the legal father has not adopted the minor child, the minor child was not conceived by artificial insemination while the legal father and mother were married, the legal father did not prevent the biological father from asserting his rights, and the minor child was under 18 when the petition was filed.

DENYING THE PETITION TO DISESTABLISH PATERNITY

The Petition To Disestablish Paternity will be denied if the court finds any of the following:

The legal father married the mother of the minor child and told other people he is the father of the minor child; or
The legal father signs a sworn statement indicating he is the biological father; or
The legal father allowed himself to be identified as the biological father on the birth certificate; or
The legal father signs a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; or
The legal father ignored or disregarded a notice requesting him to submit to scientific DNA testing.

If you need strong, experienced counsel to represent your interests, please feel free to call or e-mail The Fuller Firm, LLC. A free phone or videoconference consultation will be scheduled. After a thorough analysis of your matter, I will answer your questions and advise you regarding the best way to proceed.