Paternity

Merrisa L. Coleman-Bishop - California Paternity Laws Attorney

Santa Clara County paternity lawyer Merrisa Coleman-Bishop advises and represents both mothers and fathers in cases involving back child support collection, establishing the identity of a child's father through paternity testing, and determining an unmarried father's right to participate actively in the life of his child. For further information about her ability to help you, contact Merrisa Coleman-Bishop in San Jose.

Whether or not she has ever been married to the father of her child, a woman is entitled to the financial support of the father in raising her child. In cases where you need to establish the paternity of a particular man in order to enforce your right to child support, or if you need help in collecting back child support from the father, San Jose paternity lawyer Merrisa Coleman-Bishop can assist you in obtaining the necessary court orders and enforcement support in receiving child support.

She also represents men who deny paternity of a particular child, or who have been supporting children they believe might not be their own. Merrisa Coleman-Bishop also helps men whose paternity has been established, but who find themselves denied a meaningful relationship with their children.

In California, the establishment of paternity and the payment of child support do not by themselves give an unmarried father a secure right of visitation or shared parenting time. In fact, without a court order granting a right to joint legal custody with formal visitation rights, the child support obligation will reflect the presumption that the mother has custody of the child at all times, which means that the father's child support obligation will not be discounted for any time that he actually has the child in his home overnight.

An order for shared parenting time will not only reduce the father's child support payment by the percentage of time the father has physical custody of the child, but will also define the time the father can spend with his child. It will also allow him access to school and medical records, and otherwise help him participate fully in his child's upbringing.

Contact Santa Clara County paternity lawyer Merrisa Coleman-Bishop for specific advice, whether you're interested in collecting back child support, or in establishing your father's rights.