Paternity

Paternity is the word used when a man is determined to be the father of the child. In a marriage, the husband of the mother is automatically granted paternity. In situations involving unmarried child custody, where a mother has a child there are several ways paternity can be recognized. If the mother has been seeing one man exclusively and he is still involved in her life he can sign the papers at the child's birth and state that he is the father. However, if the mother isn't sure who the father is, or the man she names as the father wants proof, a paternity test can be done. A paternity test is a simple DNA test (a doctor simply takes some saliva) from the father and child to see if they are related. Once a paternity test has established the relationship then the father has all of the rights and responsiblities of paternity and fatherhood.

Some of the custody rights of paternity include the right to have visitation with your child and to be involved in raising the child. The responsibilities include providing financially, physically, emotioally, etc. for the child.

If you and the child's mother no longer have a relationship, but your paternity has been established, it is crucial that you develop a parenting plan or custody agreement with the mother. This plan outlines the custody and visitation schedule (which affect child support payments), a holiday schedule, parenting provisions, vacation provisions, and other important information about how your child will be raised. If the relationship between you and the mother is good, you can make your parenting plan work on your own. However, if there is conflict, or you think there might ever be conflict, you'll want to have that parenting plan become a custody order so the agreement is legally bound.

Custody X Change can help you create the parenting plan or custody agreement that you want so you get fair time with your child. Custody X Change is custody software that lets you easily and quickly make your parenting plan. You can come up with the custody and visitation schedule by entering it into the calendar and applying it for as many years as you want. You can also include a holiday schedule, vacation time, and any special events where the custody changes. As you enter all of this in, the program gives you the time-share percentage that each parent has with the child. This number is very important for calculating child support and it is also helpful so each parent knows exactly how much they get to see the children. Along with the schedule, you can add in your parenting provisions. These are terms that you want the other parent to abide by while raising your child. You can choose from the provisions the program provides and add your own. All of this prints out into documents that show the custody schedule (in calendar and document form), the provisions, and a time-share percentage report. These can also be exported to Word and PDF so you can make any changes you want.

You can use the documents in Custody X Change to prepare for court, prepare for mediation, or to work with the child's mother. It can help you get fair time with your child--which is your right as the father.

Here are how some fathers have used Custody X Change to help their custody situations.

RC used the program to get the court to accept his plan.

Doug used the software to avoid getting tricked into signing an agreement that gave him less time then he thought.

"I had entered into what seemed to be a reasonable mediated settlement and was due to sign it in a few days. I was uncertain about some of the provisions of the visitation schedule as proposed, so I searched the Internet for some way to help me sort it all out, and I found Custody X Change. I downloaded the free trial, entered the terms of the proposed visitation schedule, and was shocked at what I saw. There in clear graphic as well as report views, Custody X Change showed me in how the visitation schedule as proposed would result in far less time with my son than the paperwork had led me to believe. It also revealed multiple weekends in a row without any visitation at all, due to the proposed holiday and special event schedule.

I bought the full version, printed off the schedule, and brought it to the next mediation meeting. As a result, I was able to change the proposed schedule to avoid the problems revealed by Custody X Change. Without Custody X Change, I would have signed the proposed agreement and found out about the problems and conflicts only after it was too late. Custody X Change took the raw data that I had been staring at for days, and in a few minutes, gave me a crystal clear picture of the resulting schedule. Custody X Change is a must-have resource for parents and attorneys working with child custody issues."

Doug Conway
Fargo, ND

Frank found the program helped him keep track and make changes to the custody schedule.

Doug discovered that Custody X Change could help him create the perfect plan.

"I found the software very easy to use. It's flexible, making a tough job with a tricky schedule easier to work out. It's set up around my work schedule which is pretty crazy, but your software made it easy to setup, and I was able to get her to agree to it. I gave her a copy of the schedule, and now there are no arguments over scheduled parenting times."

Doug Hayes
Franklin, OH

If your paternity has been established, stand up for your rights as a father. Create a custody agreement that will give you the time you want with your child. Download a free trial of Custody X Change and find out how it can help you.