If you recently had a child with a man you are not married to, you have the right to collect child support for this child if you are no longer with the man. Because you are not married, you will have to go through the process of proving paternity before the court will order him to pay child support, and this will be the one challenge you must complete in order to achieve your goal. Here are several things you should understand about this.

Your First Attempt: Ask Him To Sign A Form Of Acknowledgement

Getting the father of your child to sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity is the main ticket you need to get the court to order him to pay support. Unfortunately, getting him to sign this form might not be that easy. There are situations when a mother can ask the father of her child to acknowledge paternity and he will willingly do so, but there are other times fathers may be resistant to signing anything like this.

Your first attempt to get child support should be through asking him to willingly sign the form. If he agrees and does so, you will have what you need to get the support he is obligated to pay. If he will not sign the form, you will have to proceed to another step to prove paternity of the child.

Get A Court-Ordered Paternity Test

To collect child support for your child from his or her biological father, you must have proof that he is the father. If he will not consent to this on his own, you could hire a lawyer to help you prove the paternity. A divorce lawyer or family lawyer could help you with this, and it will involve filing a Complaint To Establish Paternity form. This form is filed directly with the court, and you will need to have the father's address in order to do this.

Once this is filed, you will both have to appear in court before a judge. The judge may ask for any evidence you have that proves he is the father, and the judge may also ask him what his stance is on this. After hearing both sides, the judge will most likely order a paternity test to be completed by a certain date. This test will reveal if this man truly is the father of your child, and it is completed through a blood and DNA test. Once the results confirm that this man is the father of your child, you can move on to your request for child support.

Request Child Support From Him

When a couple has a child and are not married or even together, the parent that does not have full custody of the child is legally obligated to pay child support to the custodial parent. Laws are in place for this issue to protect the children and the parents that are supporting the children involved in cases like this.

To complete this entire process, you must file a Complaint For Child Support with your local court. When the court receives this, they will set up a hearing date in which you will both have to attend. The judge will review the situation and look at each person's income. The judge will then make a ruling on how much child support payments will be and when they will begin. Once you have this, you will have a court order that will hold this man accountable for paying the support you need to raise your child.

If you are struggling through a situation like this, you may want to talk to a family lawyer or divorce lawyer, such as Karie L. Sanoba, Attorney at Law, for help.