Have you recently learned you are not the father of a child you thought was yours?  You’re not alone.  Countless men throughout Florida and around the country have taken part in raising a child, only to discover later in life that the child is not biologically theirs.  In these types of situations, there are ways in which a man can disestablish paternity .  Once paternity has been dissolved, a man will no longer be required to pay child support and will have no further legal or financial obligations to the child.

If you are interested in disestablishing paternity, it is important to obtain representation from an experienced paternity lawyer.  Any paternity matter will be an extensive process, as the courts want to ensure the child’s best interest is protected at all times.  Disestablishing paternity often involves taking a court-ordered DNA test, and the court may want to evaluate when the child was conceived and what your relationship to the mother was at the time.  Although dissolving paternity may seem like an open-and-shut matter, things can get more complicated than you realize.  For example, last week we posted a blog about Christopher Martin, who was trying to disestablish paternity after learning he wasn’t the father of a little boy.  Even after a DNA test proved he wasn’t the biological father, the court would not dissolve his paternity because he was $30,000 behind on his child support payments.