When a child is born out of wedlock and the father is known, either parent may wish to initiate a paternity or parentage action. While it is possible to bring such an action on your own using available help from various state agencies, it may be wiser to seek the services of a Tacoma family law lawyer.

First consider what you wish to accomplish with a paternity action. There are a variety of remedies available including, establishing a regular residential schedule, amending the birth certificate naming the father, entering a child support order providing for support for the child from both parents, or simply to involve each parent in the child’s life in the child’s best interest. A competent Tacoma family law lawyer can explain the merits of a paternity action in your particular case.

County prosecutor’s offices will often litigate a paternity action for unwed mothers, especially if the mother receives state support benefits. However, such actions usually only decide child support issues and not parenting plan issues. If you have been served with a paternity action brought by a state agency, read it carefully and consider consulting a Tacoma family law lawyer to learn about your options. Simply going along with someone else’s proposal without the advice of your own Tacoma family law lawyer may not be in your best interests.

Finally, a truly competent Tacoma family law lawyer will encourage her client to seek what is in the best interest of the child involved. While lawyers are not social workers or psychologists, and they cannot tell you what to do with your personal life, a lawyer should know that both the process and the outcome of a paternity action will have a lasting effect on the child.

At McKinley Irvin our Tacoma family law lawyers approach their cases in just this manner. While we don’t back down from a necessary battle, we think of paternity actions as major events in the parties’ lives. Contact us today with your questions about paternity or any other Washington State family law action.