Family Law
Parentage & Paternity Attorneys
Securing legal and custodial rights for unmarried parents — paternity, custody, timesharing, and child support.
Establishing parentage in New Mexico
Parentage actions confirm the legal relationship between a parent and a child when the parents are not married to each other. Once parentage is established, the court can enter orders on custody, timesharing, child support, and the broader rights and responsibilities of being a parent.
Paternity for fathers
Unmarried fathers have important rights, but those rights are protected only when paternity is legally established. We help fathers confirm paternity, secure custody and timesharing, and become the involved parent their child needs.
Parentage for mothers
“We also represent mothers who need orders that confirm legal parentage, establish support, and make decision-making authority clear.”
We also represent mothers who need orders that confirm legal parentage, establish support, and make decision-making authority clear. Even when paternity is not in dispute, formal orders give both parents and the child the protection of a court-supervised plan.
Custody and timesharing in parentage cases
Once parentage is confirmed, the court applies the same best-interest standard used in divorce custody cases. We help parents craft parenting plans that account for the realities of co-parenting between two households — and we go to court when negotiation breaks down.
Child support tied to parentage
Parentage actions almost always include a child support determination. We make sure the calculation is built on the correct income, the correct timesharing percentage, and the appropriate health insurance and daycare costs.
When paternity is disputed
“When paternity is contested, the case may involve genetic testing, presumed-father issues, and questions about acknowledgments of paternity.”
When paternity is contested, the case may involve genetic testing, presumed-father issues, and questions about acknowledgments of paternity. We have decades of experience handling these disputes and the sensitive issues that come with them.