Contact the Law Offices of Tony Zirkle at any of our four Indiana locations if you need advice and representation concerning the support of a child of unmarried parents, if you have been alleged to be the father of a child that you believe is not your own, or if you are a single father who would like to stabilize your access to a child who lives with his or her mother. Indianapolis paternity and child support attorney Tony Zirkle knows the procedures of Indiana paternity law, and can represent either fathers or mothers who need help with protecting their rights.
Either the mother or the State of Indiana can initiate proceedings to establish the paternity of a child. These cases are usually started so that child support can be collected from an unmarried father. The identity of the father is proved through DNA testing. Once a particular man's paternity is established, the Indiana Child Support Guidelines are applied in much the same way they are in divorce cases, with one important exception: no credit for parenting time is given simply because the man was proved to be the child's father. As a result, 100 percent of the guidelines amount (based on the income or imputed income of both parents) will be charged to the father, including back child support obligations.
If the father wants to establish regular visitation and parenting time, or even obtain custody of the child, he will need to file a counterclaim in the paternity lawsuit or begin a separate proceeding in family court to establish a parenting time schedule. The more overnight contact the father has with his child, the more he can have credited in order to reduce the amount of child support payments.
An attorney's help might also be necessary to negotiate payment plans or reductions to take care of what are sometimes very substantial arrearages in child support. Failure to pay child support, whether in a divorce or a paternity case, can be punished as a criminal offense, and can also affect a father's driver's license, professional license, or fishing and hunting license. At the Law Offices of Tony Zirkle, our experience with the resolution of paternity and child support issues can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case. Contact Indiana paternity lawyer Tony Zirkle for additional information about your options and legal alternatives, whether your problem involves child support or establishing secure and stable access to your child.
