Divorce in it itself is challenging. One difficult part of divorce includes parentage. For this reason, it is important to have strong experienced help at your side. Patrick Baghdaserians is a Pasadena parentage lawyer and family law specialist who also works in the Los Angeles area. Patrick Baghdaserians has over a decade of experience and is someone you want on your side when dealing with parentage issues to ensure you and the children involved have the best representation.
At its simplest form, parentage is who the law will recognize as a child’s legal parent. Over the years, the traditional analysis of who is a parent has transformed. For example, assisted reproductive techniques like the use of surrogate mothers have complicated this area of law. Additionally, the California Supreme Court has found that a child may have two legally recognized parents of the same gender.
There are several ways a person may gain the status of the legal parent of a child. A few of the common, but not all, ways include:
After gaining the status as the legal parent of the child, multiple legal rights, privileges, duties, and obligations are assigned to that person. Some of those rights include:
Dating back to 2002, Courts refused to recognize a man who was not the biological father of a child as a legal parent unless that man was married to the child’s mother and was a presumed father under Family Code Section 7540. However, in 2002, the California Supreme Court held that a man who held himself out as the father of a child and with whom the child was living was considered the child’s legal parent.
When it comes to marriage, there is what is called the conclusive marital presumption. There are four elements that will result in a conclusive presumption of paternity. These four elements must exist at the time of a child’s birth. The four elements include:
Specifically, Family Code Section 7540 states the “child of a wife cohabitating with her husband, who is not impotent or sterile, is conclusively presumed to be a child of the marriage.” Although determining paternity when the parties are married may sound simple, issues regarding paternity grow more complex when the child is born before the parties are married.
Paternity and parentage cases can be complex and emotionally charged, which is why it is important for individuals to seek the help of a qualified attorney. A paternity/parentage attorney in Pasadena can assist clients in a variety of ways, including:
By working with a qualified paternity/parentage attorney in Pasadena, clients can feel confident that their legal rights are being protected and that they are receiving the best possible representation in their case. This can offer you some degree of peace of mind during what may otherwise be a stressful period.
Overall, the process of marriage dissolution can be very overwhelming and stressful, and issues regarding parentage and paternity can make the process much more complicated. Therefore, when deciding who to turn to it is important to have someone with experience on your side. Patrick Baghdaserians is an experienced Pasadena parentage lawyer and family law specialist who has dealt with many parentage cases in his over a decade of experience. Regardless of the reason, divorce is challenging, do not make the process even more difficult on yourself and schedule a consultation with Patrick Baghdaserians.
We serve clients throughout California including, but not limited to, those in the following localities: Los Angeles County including Arcadia, Baldwin Park,
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