As a Coral Gables family law attorney who has served the 
community for many years, we’ve seen our fair share of parents who come into our office, seeking help with various family law issues.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise, but the most common family law issues include divorce, child custody, and child support issues.
While timesharing and parental agreements are the preferred method when determining and outlining each parent’s responsibilities to the child(ren)—as the state of Florida doesn’t see a sole parent being granted sole custody of his or her children—we see too many cases that involve paternity issues.
Read more to learn about paternity action with a Coral Gables family law attorney.
However, this isn’t to say that biological fathers are all “dead beat dads”.
In fact, various organizations throughout the state of Florida are pushing for family law reform in 2016.
1. Permanent Alimony – Alimony has been an area that fathers have been fighting against for years. However, the state of Florida adjusted the guidelines surrounding alimony—particularly permanent alimony.
While permanent alimony still exists, the cases where this type of alimony will actually be granted will be rare.Read more about the guidelines surrounding permanent alimony in Florida here.
2. Children Need Both Parents – While the state of Florida sees both parents as having responsibility to their children, there are still many cases where one parent is granted “sole” responsibility.
Florida fathers seek justice in there area, arguing that granting “sole” responsibility to one parent over the other not only damages one parent’s relationship with his or her children, it also creates other emotional, physical, and even financial hardships for the foreseeable futures of many parents.
3. Our Children Have Rights, Too! – Many parents argue that not only do children need both parents, but they have rights, too—even minor children.
Many Florida Courts will approve or create timesharing agreements based on the best interests of the children, but for parents who are granted “sole” responsibility of the child(ren), the argument is that this isn’t necessarily in the best interests of the children (aside from the cases that involve abuse and neglect, of course).
In the state of Florida, determining “paternity” can be done in several ways, which typically include:
Learn more about establishing and determining paternity in the state of Florida here.
However, the battle still continues. And, unfortunately, those pushing for Florida family law reform are fathers who have been stripped of their rights to see and care for their children on a regular, full-time basis.
Again, while the state of Florida seeks to keep parental and timesharing agreements as fair as possible, many fathers argue that Court-appointed decisions still sway towards favoring mothers or one parent over the other in any family law disputes.
Regardless of whether you are a biological mother or father or even an adoptive parent in the state of Florida, you have rights in the matter of a divorce, legal separation, or even adoption.
An experienced and compassionate Coral Gables family law lawyer can aid in your dispute.
Visit here to learn more about how a Coral Gables family law attorney can help you in paternity actions or in another area of family law.
