Legitimation
Establishing Your Legal Rights to Your Child
Our experienced Georgia legitimation attorneys can help
In order for the father of a child born out of wedlock to have any rights to his child, he must file a legitimation action.
Even if the father has signed the child’s birth certificate, the minor child has the father’s last name, and the father has a court order for child support through child support enforcement, the father still has no legal rights whatsoever.
A father that has not legitimated his child has no right to parenting time and no right to a say in his child’s education, medical needs, extra-curricular
activities, or religious upbringing. The mother has absolute control and oftentimes that control is abused to the detriment of the father’s relationship with his child.
Having to go to court to prove you are a good father and worthy of the same rights as your child’s mother can be an emotionally difficult process for a man. We are here to help.
More and more fathers are aggressively pursuing joint physical custody of their children during their legitimation action so they have equal or close to equal parenting time as the mother. Many fathers find what is considered to be “standard visitation” (every other weekend, an “off week” evening visit for a few hours, a few weeks in the summer, and a few days during the holidays is just not enough time for them to be the type of father they desire to be to their children.
Under Georgia law, there is no presumption the mother should have primary physical custody simply because she is the mother. Once a father’s petition for legitimation is granted, he is on equal footing with the mother and has just as must right to custody and parenting time as she does.
Many fathers believe they are better suited to raise their children and seek primary physical custody in their legitimation action. The sooner you file your legitimation action, the better chance you have at obtaining primary physical custody or a significant amount of parenting time with your child.
If you are a loving and devoted father who wants to establish his legal rights to custody and visitation with his child, contact us today! We can help.
If you have the desire to be a part of your child’s life, please contact our compassionate Georgia Legitimation lawyers to start the process
The legal team at Bardley McKnight Law is proud to have helped hundreds of fathers in Douglasville and the Atlanta Area have full and healthy relationships with their children. Do not attempt to go at this alone, we are here to help. Please contact us today at (470) 308-5409 to schedule your consultation!