In the eyes of the law, married parents, divorced parents and unmarried parents have the same responsibility to provide for their children. If you are an unmarried father or mother, you are doing the right thing by looking for a reputable family law attorney. Even if you and the other parent live together in a domestic partnership, it is strongly advisable to talk to a lawyer and determine what legal issues need to be addressed for the sake of your child.
We Understand the Special Concerns of Unmarried Parents
Lasiter & Jackson in Phoenix, Arizona, welcomes you to our law offices to discuss important topics related to your child, your parental rights and responsibilities, and how to give your child greater security by clarifying legal issues such as the following:
- Paternity: How can you or how should you confirm the father’s identity for legal purposes?
- Child custody and visitation: The fact that you are unmarried and the fact that your child may be a mere infant are not reasons to deny either parent their visitation rights.
- Fathers’ rights: Fathers and mothers both have support and care responsibilities, both have parental rights and both have important roles to play in a child’s life. A father’s role in a child’s life is as important, if not more so, in an unmarried situation as it is in a marriage. A child needs caring, nurturing parenting, inheritance rights on both sides of the family and a sense of identity that involvement of a father can provide. Unmarried fathers who are involved with their children can expect to reap rewards over a lifetime.
- Grandparents’ rights: Grandparents on both sides of the family often play very important roles in children’s lives too, regardless of the unmarried status of the parents.
- Non-parents’ visitation rights: Does your child have a non-parent who cares for him or her and wishes to have custody or visitation rights? Talk to an attorney about how that person may obtain legal rights with regard to the child.
- Child support: Both parents owe a duty to provide financial support for a child whom they brought into the world or adopted together (as a same-sex couple, for example).
- Adoption and termination of parental rights: Are you considering giving your child up for adoption? How should the father’s consent be obtained? What do you need to know before allowing your parental rights to be terminated?
- Child endangerment: Do you have reason to believe that your child has been subjected to sexual abuse or might be kidnapped by the other parent? Talk to an attorney about getting an order of protection or otherwise watching out for your child’s well-being in this circumstance.
Lasiter & Jackson invites you to consult with an attorney at our law offices in Phoenix.
We’re Here for You
Lawyer input and advice can give you peace of mind and help you understand how to watch out for your child’s well-being when parents are unmarried. Lasiter & Jackson provide understanding and compassion for the delicate issues associated with unmarried co-parenting and custody rights for single parents. We are committed to helping clients achieve legal goals at a reasonable cost. Your goal may be a child support order, a child custody order or a paternity action. Our family law attorneys can help.
Consult Our Lawyers About Parental Custody Rights
Contact our law office in Phoenix to discuss paternity, parenting time, divorce or any family law issues.