Paternity Attorney in San Francisco

Certified Family Law Specialists Serving All Bay Area Families

Legal parentage shapes nearly every family law matter involving a child. Until it’s established, no California court can issue custody, visitation, or child support orders. At Van Voorhis & Sosna LLP, we limit our practice exclusively to family law in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we bring the same integrity and care to paternity and parentage matters that we do to every case we handle.

If you have a question about establishing or challenging parentage, call our San Francisco paternity lawyers at (415) 539-0422 to schedule a complimentary consultation.

How California Law Establishes Parentage

California provides three main paths to legal parentage, each suited to different circumstances.

Marital Presumption
Under Family Code §7540, a child born to spouses who were cohabiting at the time of conception is presumed to have a legal father. A related presumption under Family Code §7611 extends to children born during the marriage or within 300 days after it ends.

Voluntary Declaration of Parentage
Unmarried parents can establish parentage outside of court by signing a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage (VDOP) and filing it with the California Department of Child Support Services. Once filed, the VDOP carries the same legal weight as a court judgment of paternity under Family Code §7573. Parents often sign at the hospital at birth, though it can be signed later at other authorized locations. Parents who sign have 60 days to file a rescission form and cancel the declaration without cause. After that window closes, the VDOP can generally only be challenged for limited reasons such as fraud, duress, or a material mistake of fact.

Court Petition
When parents disagree about parentage, or no VDOP has been signed, either parent or the local child support agency can file a petition with the Superior Court to establish the parental relationship.

Contested Parentage & Genetic Testing in San Francisco

When parentage is disputed, the stakes are high on all sides. A parent who is named but disagrees, or a parent seeking recognition the other party won’t grant, needs a clear legal path forward. California courts may order genetic testing under Family Code §7551 or §7646 to resolve disputes. The results carry significant weight, though they aren’t the only evidence a court considers.

San Francisco’s Unified Family Court hears parentage determinations, including cases filed by the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services, through its Title IV-D Child Support Commissioner in Department 414 under Family Code §4251. Knowing how that court operates can matter when building your case.

Certified Family Law Specialists Handling Parentage Matters

Both partners at Van Voorhis & Sosna LLP are certified as family law specialists by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Founding partner Sarah Van Voorhis’s practice includes parentage matters alongside child custody and spousal support. That combination matters because a parentage determination doesn’t resolve in isolation. It opens the door to custody orders, visitation schedules, and support obligations, and the strategy going in should account for all of them.

We favor amicable resolution when it genuinely serves a client’s interests, and we’re prepared to litigate when it doesn’t. Our role is to give you a realistic picture of where the law and the facts put you, not to prolong a process that’s already hard on families.

Parentage for Registered Domestic Partners & Same-Sex Couples

California’s parentage framework applies across all family structures. Under Family Code §297.5(d), registered domestic partners have the same rights and obligations with respect to a child of either partner as spouses do. Same-sex couples who build their families through assisted reproduction or surrogacy have dedicated legal pathways as well. Family Code §7962 provides a route to establish parentage through a surrogacy agreement, including for same-sex couples.

We represent both traditional and non-traditional families and bring genuine sensitivity to parentage questions arising from registered domestic partnerships and LGBTQ relationships. These cases carry distinct legal considerations, and we handle them with the same depth of attention we bring to any parentage matter.

What Legal Parentage Makes Possible

Once parentage is established, a parent can seek custody and visitation orders and pursue or respond to child support through the court. For the child, the legal determination opens access to inheritance rights and benefits including health insurance, Social Security, and military survivor benefits through that parent. The rights on both sides flow directly from a clear legal record of who the parents are.

Talk to a San Francisco Paternity Lawyer Today

Whether you’re establishing parentage for the first time, responding to a petition, or facing a contested dispute, working with a paternity attorney who knows California family law and the San Francisco courts can make a real difference. We offer complimentary consultations so you can understand your situation and your options before committing to any course of action.

Call us at (415) 539-0422 to schedule your complimentary consultation with our San Francisco paternity attorneys.