In this article, our Cook County paternity attorneys explain how to establish paternity by consent at birth. Illinois statutes provide that when unmarried parents have a child together at Illinois hospitals, the hospital is required to present the parents with forms that make it easy to establish paternity by mutual agreement. The parents can deliver their petition to declare paternity to the clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court to established paternity.

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In this article, our Cook County paternity lawyers explain paternity litigation to establish the existence of a father-child relationship. We explain who can file a suit to discover a father child relationship, when the paternity litigation can be filed, and the types of evidence that are typically presented to establish paternity.

There are several causes of action in Illinois related to paternity, including:

• Establishing paternity by consent of the parents;
• Contested paternity suits; and
• Suits to establish the non-existence of a father-child relationship.
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Illinois provides that certain forms must be presented to non-married parents at the hospital upon the birth of a child, which allow the parents to facilitate establishing paternity by mutual consent.

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In this video, our Cook County paternity attorneys discuss the requirements of proving paternity for child support cases. Paternity is the legal acknowledgement of the relationship between a father and his child. If the mother was in a civil union or married when the child was born, the father is presumed to be the person to whom the mother was married. In this situation, the father’s name can go on the birth certificate at the time of birth.  In these cases, child support is usually determined as part of the divorce case without the establishment of paternity becoming an issue.