Paternity
Under Arizona law, the unmarried father of a child has neither any rights nor obligations concerning the child until his paternity is legally established, even if he signed the birth certificate, or lives with the mother and child.
Unmarried parents can establish the father's paternity by signed and witnessed affidavits that meet certain formal requirements. If either parent is unwilling to acknowledge that the man is in fact the father, a court action to legally establish a man's paternity can be filed by the mother, the father, or the Arizona Attorney General. This action when filed by the mother or the state is generally intended to provide the foundation for enforcing child support obligations against the father. When filed by the putative father, the purpose is usually to help him obtain joint legal custody rights or parenting time access to the child.
When a man denies paternity, questions as to the biological father's identity are resolved by genetic testing. If the alleged father signed the birth certificate and later denies paternity, he must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is not in fact the father of the child.
Once paternity is established, the Arizona Child Support Guidelines determine the amount of the father's financial obligations. He might also be ordered to pay back child support, especially if the mother had been receiving public benefits in place of child support. Although the formula applied to determine the amount of child support is the same as that used in divorce cases, no credit for time spent with the child will be applied to reduce the amount of the monthly support payment in a paternity action, unless the father takes steps to establish custody and access to the child.
An unmarried father whose paternity has been acknowledged or proved has the same rights to legal custody, physical custody, and parenting time access as any other father, but he must file a petition in Superior Court to have those rights recognized. Fathers who are interested in maintaining a meaningful role in their child's upbringing and who want secure access to their children will benefit from obtaining a court order that either formalizes a child custody agreement with the mother, or grants him joint legal custody with certain regular parenting time rights. The more time that a father spends with his children under a court order, the more he can expect to have his child support obligations reduced.
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