What Is the Difference Between Paternal Rights and Parental Rights?

The terms “paternal rights” and “parental rights” pop up frequently in family law cases. You might confuse one with the other, but they are not the same. Essentially, paternal rights are a subset of parental rights. All paternal rights are also parental rights, but not all parental rights are paternal rights.

What Are Parental Rights?

Parental rights are all the rights that parents usually have concerning their children that other adults don‘t have with respect to the same children. Below is a partial listing of these rights.

Legal Custody and Decision-Making Authority

Legal custody and decision-making authority are so closely intertwined that it makes sense to discuss them together. They involve a parent’s right to make and implement decisions about the child’s welfare, such as:

  • Which school the child will attend;
  • The child’s religious upbringing;
  • Medical treatment options;
  • Participation in extracurricular activities,
  • Decisions regarding the child’s nutrition.
  • Management of the child’s social interactions;
  • Use of the Internet and other electronic media;
  • Handling of emergencies;
  • Decisions affecting the child’s health and safety; and
  • Travel and vacations.

Ultimately, however, a court will apply the “best interests of the child” standard, even at the cost of the best interests of the child’s parents.

Physical Custody

You have physical custody of your child if they live with you. You can have primary custody of your child, with the other parent given visitation rights. You can also have sole custody. This is.what most people think of when they hear the term “child custody.”

Access to Records 

Parents typically have the right to access their child’s medical and educational records. These are, of course, necessary for the parent to make decisions on medical and educational issues. 

A court might, however, deny a parent the right to access these records. When the parents share joint custody, the court typically allows the parents to share access to medical and educational records as well.

What Are Paternal Rights?

The word “paternal” refers to fatherhood. The concept of paternal rights evolved differently than the concept of parental rights for one major reason–it is easy to doubt whether a man is the father of a particular child, but it’s not nearly as easy to doubt whether a particular woman is the mother of a particular child. 

Ways of Establishing Paternity

The following are the most common ways to establish paternity for legal purposes:

  • Marriage: If the mother is married at the time the child is born, a court will presume that the woman’s husband is the child’s father.
  • Acknowledgment of paternity: Both parents can sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form, which is legally binding.
  • Court order: Paternity can be established by court order.
  • DNA testing can establish paternity.
  • The putative father can establish paternity by marrying the child’s mother after the child’s birth and updating the birth record to include his name.

You can challenge any of these means of establishing paternity.

The Legal Benefits of Establishing Paternity

Establishing paternity can offer the father and child the following legal benefits:

  • Custody and visitation rights;
  • Inheritance rights, including entitlement to Social Security benefits;
  • Access to the family medical history. Father and child gain access to each other’s medical histories.

In just about any case, a family law court will expect you or the other parent to exercise these rights in the best interests of the child.

Paternal Responsibility: Child Support

Establishing paternity might give one parent quite a bundle of new rights, but paternity also involves new responsibilities. Most important among these, of course, is the obligation to provide child support. 

Even if the child lives with the father full-time, a family court will expect them to provide financial support to the child–it just won’t come in the form of a check to the mother.

Child support obligations are at the root of most legal battles over paternity.

An Experienced Orlando Family Lawyer Can Help You Work It Out

The presence or absence of parental or paternal rights can make or break your child’s life. You simply cannot let a family court judge get this one wrong. Whatever the truth is, you’ve got to get it across using whatever legal means you have available to you. 

In almost every case, this includes the assistance of a seasoned Orlando family lawyer.

Contact Our Family Law Firm in Orlando, FL

Contact the experienced Orlando child custody lawyers at McMichen, Cinami & Demps today for legal assistance. Contact our Orlando, FL office at (407) 898-2161 to schedule a free consultation.

McMichen, Cinami & Demps – Orlando Office
1500 E Concord St
Orlando, FL 32803