Bastrop County Paternity Attorney
A legal father with enforceable rights, a child with a clear parent-child relationship on paper, and a support and possession order that works in daily life: that is what most parents want from a paternity case. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber helps unmarried parents get there, handling paternity and SAPCR suits for families in Bastrop County and across Central Texas. If you need a Bastrop County paternity attorney, the first thing to know is that paternity is rarely a standalone question. Once legal fatherhood is settled, conservatorship, possession, and child support follow, and the choices made at the start shape all of them.
In Bastrop County, these cases are heard in the district courts that sit in the town of Bastrop. The 423rd District Court hears only matters arising within the county, while the 21st District Court also sits there and serves Bastrop, Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties. Which court your case lands in matters less than how well it is prepared, and that preparation starts with understanding what kind of paternity situation you are actually in.
What Establishing Paternity Does and Does Not Do
A biological connection is not the same as legal fatherhood. In Texas, a man who is not married to the mother has no automatic legal rights to the child until parentage is established through a signed acknowledgment of paternity or a court order. Until then, he cannot ask a court for possession, and the mother cannot ask the court to order him to pay support.
Establishing paternity opens the door to everything else. It gives a father standing to seek conservatorship and a possession schedule, gives the child a legal relationship with both parents, and allows a court to set child support. It also settles practical questions such as inheritance, health insurance eligibility, and the father’s name on records.
It does not, by itself, decide who the child lives with or how much time each parent gets. Those are separate determinations made in the same suit, which is why a paternity filing is usually a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship covering parentage, custody, and support together.
Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Paternity and SAPCR Cases
The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving clients in Bastrop County, Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and throughout Central Texas. Our practice covers paternity, SAPCR suits, child custody and visitation, child support, and modifications, relocation, and enforcement. Your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final order. We keep a manageable caseload on purpose, so you are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates, and you get direct attorney access and plain-language explanations.
Kevin Weber, Attorney, and Karen Oprea, Attorney, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Kevin trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, and he both mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation. That dual view matters in paternity cases, where many parents can reach a workable agreement on possession and support if someone guides the conversation well. Karen has briefed and argued cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the New York appellate courts, which sharpens the legal research and writing behind a contested case.
We prepare every case for trial while pursuing cooperative resolution whenever it is realistic. Clients describe us as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring. One client who came to us for a paternity case after using other attorneys called Kevin by far the best.
Situations That Bring Parents to a Paternity Case
- Unmarried Father Seeking Legal Rights: A father who has been involved from birth but has signed nothing may find himself with no enforceable right to see the child if the relationship with the mother ends. A court order adjudicating parentage is what gives him standing to ask for conservatorship and a possession schedule.
- Mother Seeking Child Support: When a father is not paying and parentage has not been legally established, the mother can ask the court to adjudicate paternity and set support using the Texas guidelines in the same suit.
- Acknowledgment of Paternity Signed at the Hospital: Many parents sign this form soon after birth without realizing it carries legal weight. A signatory has 60 days to rescind it. After that, it can be challenged only on grounds of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.
- Genetic Testing Disputes: A man who doubts he is the father, or a mother who is certain who the father is, may need court-ordered genetic testing to resolve the question with evidence rather than argument.
- Presumed Father Challenges: When the mother was married at the time of birth, her husband is presumed to be the father. Challenging that presumption is time-limited and fact-specific.
- Unmarried Couples With a Possible Informal Marriage: Some couples who lived together and held themselves out as married may actually be in a recognized informal marriage, which changes the case from paternity to divorce.
- Existing Orders That No Longer Fit: Parents who already have a paternity order may need to modify possession or support, handle a relocation, or enforce an order the other parent is ignoring.
What to Do Right Now if Paternity Is Unresolved
Start by finding out what paperwork already exists. Was an acknowledgment of paternity signed at the hospital or afterward? Was the mother married to someone else when the child was born? Has any court already entered an order? The answers determine which path applies and which deadlines are running.
Pay attention to time. If a child has a presumed father, a suit to adjudicate parentage generally must be brought before the child’s fourth birthday, with exceptions such as the mother and presumed father not living together or having relations during the likely time of conception, or misrepresentation that kept the presumed father from asserting paternity. If a child has an acknowledged or adjudicated father, someone who did not sign and wants to contest it generally has four years from the effective date of the acknowledgment or adjudication. If you signed an acknowledgment yourself and want out, the 60-day rescission window is the cleanest route, and waiting beyond it limits you to the narrow grounds of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.
Gather what a court will want to see: the child’s birth certificate, any signed acknowledgment, records of the parents’ relationship around the time of conception, evidence of who has been paying for and caring for the child, communication records, and income documentation for both parents. If safety is a concern, tell your attorney early, since a protective order can affect possession and may be handled alongside the paternity suit.
Cases for Bastrop County children are filed in the district courts in the town of Bastrop. Do not sign anything the other parent or an agency hands you without understanding what it gives up. Do not stop paying voluntary support while a case is pending, and do not withhold the child as leverage; both tend to hurt you in front of a judge. Keep communication with the other parent civil and in writing where you can.
How Texas Courts Handle Possession and Support After Paternity Is Established
Once parentage is settled, the court turns to the child’s best interest. Texas uses the term conservatorship for custody and possession and access for visitation. The law favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents but does not promise an equal split. For new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other, the Expanded Standard Possession Order is now the default, with Thursday overnights and weekends running through Monday morning. Parents can agree on a different schedule, and the court will approve it if it serves the child.
Child support follows statutory guidelines based on a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, 40% for five, and not less than the five-child amount for six or more. These percentages apply up to a cap on net resources that is adjusted periodically. Lower percentages apply when net resources are very low. Net resources include wages and other compensation for personal services, such as overtime, tips, commissions, and bonuses. A court can depart from the guidelines when applying them would be unjust or inappropriate.
Later changes are possible. Support can be modified when three years have passed and the amount differs from the guideline figure by 20 percent or $100, or on a material and substantial change in circumstances. Changing conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change and a finding that modification serves the child.
Bastrop County Paternity Questions Parents Ask Us
Do I need a court case, or can we just sign an acknowledgment of paternity?
If both parents agree on who the father is, a signed acknowledgment can establish legal parentage without a lawsuit. It does not, however, set a possession schedule or child support. For those, you still need a court order, which is why many parents file a SAPCR suit even when paternity is undisputed.
Can I change my mind after signing an acknowledgment of paternity?
You can rescind within 60 days of signing. After that, a signatory can challenge it only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, and the challenge generally has to come before a court order affecting the child is issued. Treat the signature as a serious legal step.
What if the mother was married to someone else when the child was born?
Her husband is the presumed father. Adjudicating a different man as the legal father means overcoming that presumption, and a suit to do so generally must be filed before the child’s fourth birthday unless an exception applies. These cases are fact-heavy and worth discussing with an attorney quickly.
Does establishing paternity mean I will get 50/50 custody?
No. Paternity gives you standing to ask for conservatorship and possession; it does not decide the schedule. Many orders use a standard possession schedule, though parents can agree to something closer to equal time.
How is child support calculated for an unmarried parent?
The same way as for divorced parents. The guideline percentage depends on the number of children before the court and is applied to the paying parent’s net monthly resources up to a periodically adjusted cap. Support for other children the parent supports can adjust the figure.
Can the mother stop me from seeing my child before paternity is established?
Before a court order or valid acknowledgment, an unmarried father has no enforceable right to possession, so informal access can end at any time. That is a strong reason to establish parentage formally rather than rely on goodwill.
What happens if the alleged father refuses genetic testing?
A court can order testing, and refusing a court order carries consequences, including the court drawing conclusions about parentage. Voluntary cooperation is simpler, but refusal does not stop the case.
Can I be ordered to pay support if I signed the birth certificate but doubt I’m the father?
If you signed an acknowledgment, you are the legal father unless it is rescinded or successfully challenged on narrow grounds. Doubt alone, after the rescission period, is not enough, so get advice before the deadlines pass.
My child’s other parent lives far away. Does that change the possession schedule?
Yes. The default Expanded Standard Possession Order applies when parents live within 50 miles of each other. Greater distances call for a different arrangement, and the court will weigh the child’s age, school, and travel realities.
Can a stepparent or another adult seek custody in a paternity-related case?
Texas narrowed standing for non-parents, and the law now looks to whether the person has had exclusive care, control, and possession of the child. A non-parent’s claim is harder than a parent’s, so these cases need individual review.
We already have a paternity order but it doesn’t fit our lives anymore. What can we do?
You can seek a modification of support, possession, or conservatorship if circumstances have materially and substantially changed. If one parent is not following the order, an enforcement action is the right tool.
Serving Paternity Clients Across Bastrop County and Central Texas
We represent parents throughout Bastrop County, including the county seat of Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, Cedar Creek, Paige, Red Rock, McDade, Rockne, and Camp Swift, as well as families in surrounding rural communities. Our work extends to neighboring Travis County, including Austin, Manor, and Pflugerville; Williamson County, including Georgetown, Round Rock, and Taylor; and Hays County, including San Marcos, Kyle, and Buda. Wherever your child lives in Central Texas, we handle paternity, SAPCR suits, support, possession, and the modifications and enforcement that follow.
Talk With a Bastrop County Paternity Lawyer
Parentage, possession, and support are better settled early and carefully than left to drift. If you are weighing whether to sign an acknowledgment, file a suit, challenge an existing order, or defend one, a Bastrop County paternity lawyer at Oprea & Weber can walk you through your options in plain terms and build a plan around your family. Call to schedule a consultation and learn where you stand.