Child Visitation, Legitimation and Paternity in North Carolina

Fayetteville NC Visitation and Paternity Lawyers

In the state of North Carolina, when a couple goes through a divorce and one parent has primary physical custody of the child or children, the other parent is going to be given visitation rights in just about every instance. This term, “visitation,” commonly refers to the non-custodial parent’s right to spend time with the child or children, but in North Carolina custody is usually considered to be “primary” and “secondary.” So rather than “visiting” the child, the non-custodial parent is seen as having secondary custody. Even when there has been instances of abuse, the parent is usually given the right to visitation under supervision. However, the court does have the authority to disallow visitation should it see fit.

The right to parental visitation is a given, but in the state of North Carolina grandparents can also petition the court for visitation rights if necessary; however, the terms of visitation by grandparents are normally something that can be worked out by the couple who is divorcing. Visitation is to a large extent a matter that should not be extraordinarily contentious when the children are born of married parents, but when a child is born out of wedlock, the issues of paternity and legitimation enter the picture.

In the state of North Carolina, unwed parents can voluntarily sign an affidavit that attests to the parentage of the father, and when this is done the father will be able to assert his rights and assume his responsibilities as the legal parent of the child or children. If the parentage is brought into question, an action can be brought to prove paternity by either the mother, the man alleging to be the father, or the child’s guardian. This was a matter that was somewhat difficult to resolve with absolute certainty in the past, but now that we have DNA testing, absolute proof of parentage is relatively easy to obtain. One thing to take into consideration concerning filing a proof of parentage motion is that it can be filed any time prior to the 18th birthday of the child. If the results of the DNA testing were to contradict an already issued birth certificate, in the state of North Carolina, a new one will be issued.

If you would like to learn more about child visitation, legitimation and paternity arrange for a free consultation with a Fayetteville NC  family lawyer.