Athletes and Paternity or Parental Rights
If your name is on the birth certificate, do you have parental rights? In Florida, the law differentiates between paternity and parental rights—signing a birth certificate may establish paternity and the obligation to pay child support, but unmarried fathers must establish their parental rights by obtaining an adjudication of paternity from the courts.
If a father is not married to the child’s mother at the time of the child’s birth or conception, he must petition the court for an order granting parental rights. Establishing parental rights gives an unmarried father the legal right to: (1) seek a court order for visitation rights, (2) request a change or modification in custody, (3) request child support if he has custody of the child, and (4) be involved with important decisions that concern his child, including choices regarding their schooling, medical treatment and religious upbringing.
Even if an informal custody arrangement between unmarried parents works in the short term, obtaining a formal court order is in the best interests of both the father and the child. Without this type of order, the father does not have a legal right to intervene if he disagrees with the mother’s decisions. If an unmarried father is not listed on the child’s birth certificate or registered with the Florida Putative Father’s Registry, the child’s mother has the legal right to place the child up for adoption without the father’s consent.
If you are an unmarried father in the Broward, West Palm Beach or Miami-Dade area, the family law and sports law attorneys at Koch & Trushin can help you obtain parental rights over your child.
