Paternity Lawyers in Stamford, CT

Representing Mothers & Fathers in Connecticut Paternity Matters

For unmarried parents, establishing paternity is the foundation for protecting parental rights and securing a child’s future. As a mother, legal recognition of paternity opens the door to court-ordered child support and essential benefits like health insurance and inheritance rights. As a father, it gives you the legal standing to seek custody or parenting time and build a meaningful relationship with your child.

These matters are emotionally charged and legally technical. At Siegel, Colin, & Kaufman, we represent both mothers and fathers through every stage of the paternity process, guiding clients through court procedures and advocating for positions that serve the best interests of the child.

Discuss your case with a Stamford paternity attorney at Siegel, Colin, & Kaufman. Call (203) 599-3413 or reach us online to schedule a phone, office, or virtual consultation. We serve clients in Stamford, Westport, and throughout Connecticut.

How Paternity Is Established in Connecticut

Connecticut’s Parentage Act (Chapter 818 of the Connecticut General Statutes, effective January 1, 2022) governs how parentage is established. There are two primary paths.

• Acknowledgment of Parentage. When both parents agree, they can sign an Acknowledgment of Parentage form at the hospital at birth or at a later date. Once processed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the parent’s name is added to the birth certificate. After the rescission window closes, challenging a signed acknowledgment requires a court proceeding and proof of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.
• Court-Ordered Adjudication. When parents disagree, a petition is filed in Superior Court, and the court may order genetic testing. A probability of 99% or greater can support a temporary child support order while the case is pending. If the other party fails to respond or appear, the court may enter a default judgment establishing parentage and imposing child support obligations.

When a child is born to married parents, the spouse is presumed to be the legal parent under Connecticut law. This presumption can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. A subsequent divorce doesn’t alter a prior determination of paternity.

Fathers’ Rights in Connecticut Paternity Cases

When the other parent won’t sign an Acknowledgment of Parentage, a father can pursue legal parentage through Connecticut Superior Court. Genetic testing establishes the biological relationship, and once the court adjudicates parentage, the rights and responsibilities that follow are equivalent to those of the birth parent under the Connecticut Parentage Act.

Those rights include the ability to seek custody or parenting time, access to the child’s healthcare records and school documents, and standing to participate in decisions about the child’s upbringing. Waiting to establish parentage leaves a father without enforceable parental rights, regardless of how widely the biological relationship is understood.

Connecticut’s family courts apply the same best-interests-of-the-child standard to paternity custody disputes as they do to divorce cases, and the law evaluates both parents by the same standard. At Siegel, Colin, & Kaufman, we have extensive experience advocating for fathers’ rights in Stamford and throughout Connecticut. Once paternity is established, we can help you and the other parent reach a parenting plan through negotiation, collaborative law, or mediation. When agreement isn’t possible, we handle contested custody and parenting time disputes in court.

Our team includes The Honorable Thomas D. Colin (Ret.), a former Connecticut Superior Court Judge who presided over family matters in the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, the same district where local paternity actions are filed. His firsthand perspective on how these cases move through the court gives our clients an informed procedural perspective that practicing attorneys alone can’t offer.