Salt Lake City Paternity Attorney

Bringing a child into this world is one of the happiest days of your life. Being a parent is an incredible journey riddled with new experiences and ups and downs. There may come a time when parents can no longer effectively communicate or co-parent. This is where custody arrangements come in. Other times, paternity may come into question which can lead to a range of other issues. There are many reasons why paternity may need to be established and not all of them are negative. It is important to have an experienced family law attorney on your side to navigate these difficult legal issues.

Understanding the Importance of Establishing Paternity

Paternity may need to be officially established to obtain child support or set up a visitation schedule. In Utah, both parents must financially support the child which is why paternity is crucial to your case. There will be some factors that will be taken into consideration when establishing support such as the number of children, the individual income of each parent, and how much time the child/ren spends living with each parent.

A mother will typically initiate a paternity case to obtain child support. Other times, a father who wants visitation or custody rights may also wish to establish paternity. These cases are often brought on when a father wishes to establish a relationship with the child. However, these may be contentious reasons to seek paternity. A couple may also want paternity established for issues of practicality and not for any legal disagreement.

Key Considerations for Custody Arrangements in Utah

One of the most important reasons paternity should be established early on is for custody. In Utah, S.B. 122 has established that custody should be equally split between both parents. Under this new law there are now three things to consider:

• Parents will share overnights with children equally on an annual basis
• Parent time and physical custody will be split evenly
• Child support is calculated under new equal custody guidelines thereby lowering the child support

However, even with this new law passing, equal custody is not guaranteed unless you have the help of a Salt Lake City child custody attorney.