What’s The Difference Between A Legal And Biological Father In Florida?
Paternity can be established in numerous ways in the state of Florida. While DNA testing is among the most common ways to establish paternity, it is not the only way. Paternity can be established by being named on the child’s birth certificate or being married when the child is born. If you are the husband of a pregnant wife, the court will automatically presume that you are the father of the child. You’ll be named as the father’s child on the birth certificate and have parental rights over the child. This remains true even if DNA testing later proves you are not the biological father of the child. In that case, you would have to prove fraud, duress, or coercion resulted in you signing the birth certificate.
In one important Florida case, Van Weelde v. Van Weelde, the husband and legal father of a child had his child delegitimized by the court after it was determined that he was not the biological father through DNA testing. In this case, the father appealed the court’s decision, and the court found in favor of the legal father regardless of what DNA testing had established. In this article, the Tampa, FL paternity lawyers at Faulkner Law Group, PLLC will discuss the Van Weelde decision and how it impacts all sorts of paternity challenges.
Background of the case
In Van Weelde, there was no dispute that the father was not the biological father of the child. When the husband and wife first met, the wife was already pregnant with the child. However, the husband was present at the child’s birth and named as the child’s father on his birth certificate. The husband and wife had both signed a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity in accord with Florida statutes which summarily named the husband as the legal father of the child.
The husband and wife married when the child was only 16 months old. For the entirety of the child’s life, the husband acted as the child’s father and was the only father the child had ever known. The biological father had nothing to do with the child’s life and contributed nothing to his support.
The wife ultimately filed a petition for the dissolution of marriage during which she acknowledged that there were no minor children born of the marriage. The wife’s sole basis for making this allegation was that the husband was not the biological father of the child. In the husband’s counter petition, the husband admitted he was not the biological father of the child but argued that he was the legal father of the child and that he had a right to maintain that legal status. The trial court, however, found in favor of the wife, concluding that the husband’s admission that he was not the biological father was enough to deny paternity.
The husband appealed, and the appeals court found that because he was the legal father of the child, he still had parental rights over the child. However, the fact that he was not the biological father of the child did not matter at all to the court.
Talk to a Tampa FL paternity lawyer today
Need to establish paternity? Don’t think you’re the father of the child? Either way, the Tampa family lawyers at Faulkner Law Group, PLLC represent the interests of fathers who are looking to confirm or deny that they are the father of a child. Call our office today to schedule an appointment and we could begin representing your interests right away.
