PATERNITY

Paternity in Florida can be established in the following ways:

1) Marriage
If a man is married to a woman when a child is born, he is, for all intents and purposes, legally considered the father of the child.

2)Acknowledgement of Paternity
An unmarried couple can jointly sign a legal document after the child is born that stated they both acknowledge that the male signatory is the father of the child.

3) Court Order
In cases where the fatherhood of the child is disputed, it may be necessary to get a court order from a judge that legally establishes the paternity of the child.

4) Administrative Order Based on Genetic Testing
The paternity can be legally established by biologically testing both the father and child in order to prove genetic inheritance.

5) Legitimation
When an unmarried couple has a child and later gets married. Florida Law presumes the husband to be the legal father once the marriage is official