Bastrop Paternity Attorney

Legal fatherhood in Texas does not always follow biology, and that gap is where most paternity disputes begin. A man can be the biological father and have no legal rights at all, while another man can hold legal fatherhood on paper without any biological tie. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles paternity and SAPCR suits for unmarried parents in Bastrop County and across Central Texas, and a Bastrop paternity attorney from our firm can tell you quickly which side of that gap you are standing on.

Until paternity is legally established, a father generally has no enforceable right to custody or visitation, and a mother has no court order requiring him to pay child support. Establishing it opens the door to everything else: a conservatorship order, a possession schedule, a child support obligation, medical support, and a clear legal relationship that follows the child through school, insurance, inheritance, and benefits.

The timing matters more than most people realize. Texas sets deadlines for challenging or establishing parentage when a child already has a presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father, and a mistake made early, such as signing a form without understanding it, can be difficult to undo later. What follows covers how paternity is established, how it gets challenged, and how the court in Bastrop County handles the custody and support questions that come with it.

Why Choose The Law Office of Oprea & Weber for Paternity Cases in Bastrop County

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber serves families in Bastrop County, Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and throughout Central Texas. Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea are the firm’s attorneys, and 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, a background that translates directly into the evidence-heavy, negotiation-driven work of a contested parentage case. 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 matters when a paternity question turns on a statute’s deadline or a contested legal presumption rather than on facts alone.

The firm is a boutique practice, and that shapes how clients are treated. Caseloads are kept intentionally manageable, your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final order, and you are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates. Clients get direct access to the lawyer making decisions on their case, with options explained in plain language. One client who came to the firm for help in a paternity case after using other attorneys wrote that Kevin was “by far the best.” Others describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring.

Paternity cases often begin between people who are not at odds, or who were not at odds until the legal questions arrived. The firm prepares every case as though it may be tried, which gives clients leverage, but pursues cooperative resolution whenever the other parent is willing. Kevin also mediates family law disputes as well as representing clients in mediation, so he understands what makes a parenting agreement hold up after the paperwork is signed.

Situations That Bring Families to a Paternity Lawyer

• Unmarried Father Seeking Rights: A biological father who was never married to the mother has no automatic right to custody or possession. He must be legally established as the father, by acknowledgment or court order, before a judge can give him conservatorship or a possession schedule.
• Mother Seeking Child Support: When the father is not on the birth record or will not acknowledge the child, the mother can ask the court to adjudicate paternity and set guideline support, medical support, and a possession order in the same suit.
• Presumed Father Challenges: If the mother was married when the child was born, her husband is the presumed father. Someone who believes another man is the biological father, or a husband who doubts his own paternity, faces a four-year deadline from the child’s birth in most circumstances, with limited exceptions.
• Acknowledgment of Paternity Problems: Many parents sign an acknowledgment at the hospital without realizing its legal weight. It can be rescinded within 60 days. After that, it can be challenged only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.
• Genetic Testing Disputes: A parent may refuse to submit to testing, question the results, or argue that testing should not be ordered. These disputes turn on the statutory standards for ordering tests and on what the presumptions allow.
• SAPCR Suits After Paternity: A Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship covers conservatorship, possession and access, and support. Once parentage is settled, the same case resolves how the child will actually live.
• Modification and Enforcement: Existing paternity-based orders may need modification when circumstances change, or enforcement when a parent is not paying support or following the possession schedule.
• Relocation Conflicts: When one parent wants to move a child away from the other, geographic restrictions in the order and the effect on the possession schedule become central issues.

What to Do if Paternity Is Unresolved: Practical Steps and Where Cases Are Heard

Start by figuring out where the child’s legal parentage stands today. Was the mother married at the time of birth? Was an acknowledgment of paternity signed at the hospital or afterward? Is there already a court order naming the father? Gather the birth certificate, any acknowledgment form, prior orders, and any messages or records showing the relationship and the history of support. These documents decide which legal route is available and which deadlines apply.

If you signed an acknowledgment recently, the 60-day rescission window is the one deadline you cannot afford to miss. If you have already passed it, the options narrow to challenging for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, and the case must be brought before a court order affecting the child is entered. Do not stop paying support or withhold the child while you wait for answers. A parent who takes matters into their own hands often damages their position in front of the judge.

In Bastrop County, paternity and SAPCR cases are filed in district court in the county seat of Bastrop. The 423rd District Court, which hears matters arising only within Bastrop County, and the 21st District Court, which also serves Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties, both sit in Bastrop. The courts of Williamson, Hays, and Travis Counties handle cases for families who live there, and where the suit should be filed depends on where the child has lived. Filing in the wrong county can cost months, so confirm venue before anything is filed.

Many parents wait to see whether things resolve informally. Informal arrangements do not create enforceable rights, and a father who has been involved for years can still be shut out if the relationship ends before a court order exists. A mother relying on verbal promises of support has no remedy if they stop. Getting a lawyer involved early, even when the other parent seems cooperative, usually leads to a cleaner outcome and a negotiated agreement rather than an emergency filing.

How Texas Courts Establish and Challenge Parentage

There are three main ways legal fatherhood is established: marriage, voluntary acknowledgment, and court adjudication. A man married to the mother when the child is born is presumed to be the father. A man who signs a valid acknowledgment of paternity becomes a legal parent without a court order. A man who is neither can be named the father by a judge after a paternity suit, usually supported by genetic testing.

Each route carries its own limits on challenge. If a child has a presumed father, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage, whether brought by the presumed father, the mother, or another person, generally must begin within four years of the child’s birth. Exceptions exist, including when the mother and presumed father did not live together or have sexual relations during the probable time of conception, or when misrepresentation kept the presumed father from asserting his rights. If the child has an acknowledged or adjudicated father, a person who did not sign and wants to challenge must act within four years of the acknowledgment or adjudication taking effect.

Once parentage is settled, the court addresses the child. Conservatorship is Texas’s term for custody, and possession and access is the term for visitation. For new orders where parents live within 50 miles of each other, the Expanded Standard Possession Order, which includes Thursday overnights and weekends running through Monday morning, is now the default schedule. Parents can agree to something different, and the court will approve a plan that serves the child’s best interest.

Child Support in a Paternity Case

Child support follows establishment of parentage. Texas guidelines apply a percentage to the paying parent’s net monthly resources, up to a statutory cap that is adjusted periodically: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, 35 percent for four, 40 percent for five, and at least that amount for six or more. Net resources include wages, salary, overtime, tips, bonuses, and other compensation. Lower percentages apply to very low-income obligors. The court may depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust or inappropriate for the child.

Support orders can be modified later, either after three years if the amount differs from the guideline figure by 20 percent or $100, or at any time upon a material and substantial change in circumstances. If the parents agreed to an amount different from the guidelines, a modification generally requires showing a material and substantial change since the order was entered.

Paternity Questions Answered

How do I establish paternity in Texas?

Paternity can be established by signing a valid acknowledgment of paternity, by marriage to the mother at the time of birth, or by a court order following a paternity suit. When parents disagree or one refuses to sign, a court adjudication, usually based on genetic testing, is the route that produces an enforceable result.

Does being on the birth certificate make me the legal father?

Not by itself. A name on a birth certificate is not the same as a court order or a valid acknowledgment. Without one of those, an unmarried father typically lacks enforceable rights to conservatorship or possession, and the mother lacks a support order.

Can I cancel an acknowledgment of paternity I signed?

Within 60 days of signing, it can be rescinded. After that, a signatory can challenge only on the grounds of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, and the challenge must come before an order affecting the child is issued. The window is narrow, so the timing of the decision matters.

What if the mother was married to someone else when the child was born?

Her husband is the presumed father, which complicates any attempt by a biological father to establish rights. A proceeding to adjudicate parentage must generally begin within four years of the child’s birth, with limited exceptions, such as when the husband and mother did not live together or have relations around the time of conception.

Will the court order a DNA test?

Often, yes, when paternity is genuinely in dispute. Genetic testing is the standard method for resolving it. Refusing to cooperate can have consequences in the case, and a lawyer can advise on how the court is likely to treat a refusal or a disputed result.

How is child support set if we were never married?

Exactly as for married parents. Once paternity is established, guideline percentages are applied to the paying parent’s net monthly resources, adjusted for other children supported in other households, with possible departures if the guidelines would be unfair or inappropriate.

Does an unmarried father get a 50/50 possession schedule?

Not automatically. For new orders where parents live within 50 miles of each other, the Expanded Standard Possession Order is the default, which gives the non-primary parent Thursday overnights and weekends extending through Monday morning. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and courts approve plans that serve the child’s best interest.

Can I file for paternity if the child is already several years old?

Often yes, but the deadlines depend on the child’s existing legal status. If there is no presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated father, there is generally no four-year bar. If there is, the limits discussed above apply, and the details of your situation will decide whether an exception fits.

What happens if I lose my job or my income drops after support is ordered?

A material and substantial change in circumstances can support a modification, and incarceration for more than 180 days is specifically treated as one. Do not simply stop paying; arrears accumulate and enforcement follows. Filing for modification promptly protects you from unpaid balances that cannot be reduced retroactively.

Can a stepparent or other non-parent seek custody or visitation?

Texas narrowed standing for non-parents in 2025. The statute now speaks of exclusive care, control, and possession, where earlier law relied on actual care for six months. Whether someone qualifies depends on the details, and a consultation can clarify it.

Is a paternity case handled in Bastrop even if I live elsewhere?

Venue depends largely on where the child has lived. A child who has lived in Bastrop County generally belongs in the Bastrop County courts. A child living in Travis, Williamson, or Hays County would typically proceed there. Confirming this before filing avoids delay.

Serving Paternity Clients Across Bastrop County and Central Texas

The firm represents parents throughout Bastrop County, from the city of Bastrop and Smithville to Elgin, Cedar Creek, McDade, Paige, Red Rock, Rosanky, and the communities along the Colorado River corridor and Highway 71. Families in Bastrop’s growing neighborhoods and in the more rural stretches of the county come to us when parentage and possession questions need answers. We also serve parents in neighboring Travis County, including Austin, Manor, Pflugerville, and Del Valle, and in Williamson County communities such as Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, and Taylor. In Hays County, we represent clients in San Marcos, Kyle, and Buda. Whatever the starting point, the work is the same: establishing parentage, setting support, and building a possession schedule that works for the child and both households.

Talk With a Bastrop Paternity Lawyer About Your Case

If you are trying to establish paternity, challenge it, or sort out custody and support for a child whose parents were never married, a Bastrop paternity lawyer at The Law Office of Oprea & Weber can walk you through your options and the deadlines that apply to your situation. Call our office to schedule a consultation. You will speak directly with an attorney who will review your facts, explain what the law allows, and help you decide whether to negotiate, mediate, or prepare for court.