Establishing who a child’s legal parents are offers a number of benefits for mothers, fathers, and children alike. Fathers can assert their parental rights and seek time with their children. Mothers can assert the child’s right to receive financial support from the father. In most cases, children benefit from having a relationship and spending time with both of their parents.

The relationship between fathers and children is important, and establishing paternity is the best way to protect that relationship. Or, in some cases, it may be the only way to ensure that both parents are sharing the responsibility of supporting the child. Whatever your reason for needing to establish paternity, a qualified attorney will be able to assess your situation and guide you to the best way of establishing paternity for your child.

What Are the Ways to Establish Paternity in Texas?

There are multiple paths to establishing legal paternity in Texas. Some are simpler than others. Which method is best for a particular situation often depends on whether the father and mother are both on board with the process. If one party is uncooperative, a court order may be needed to force a paternity test. Ways to establish paternity include:

Parenting is tough, and oftentimes, a parent may feel like he or she is doing the whole thing wrong. While feelings of inadequacy are completely normal, especially as single parents try to navigate solo parenting, there are some things that a parent can do that may cause the courts to say that yes, they are doing things wrong, and that said wrongdoings may cause irreversible damage to the child. This post outlines five of those things.

At Clark Law Group, our goal is the same as the courts - to ensure that children of divorce are placed in a situation that is in their best interests. Sometimes this may mean fighting for shared parenting on behalf of our clients, sometimes it may mean fighting for sole custody, and other times it may mean fighting to modify an existing court ordered custody agreement to revoke custody from a parent who has inflicted harm on the child. If you want to do the last- modify your custody agreement-you need to have a good reason to do so. Below are five of them.

Child Abuse

If a parent is abusive in any way-physically, emotionally, or sexually-he or she can lose custody immediately. Even an allegation of abuse may result in the temporary revocation of custody until a proper investigation has been conducted. This is to ensure that the child is not placed back in harm's way just because there is no evidence as of yet.

Unless your divorce is a simple divorce, meaning that you were married for a short time, acquired little to no assets with your spouse, and never had any children together, the divorce process is not going to be easy. Even if you and your spouse currently get along, divorce tends to bring out the worst in people. Oftentimes, what will start out as an amicable divorce will turn into a long, drawn out legal battle over everything from fault to who gets the television. Fortunately, when you work with a compassionate and experienced Dallas divorce attorney, you will not only get legal assistance, but you will also get an objective third party who understands your pain and who knows what it takes to obtain an amicable outcome in the least expensive, least stressful way possible.

Three Reasons to Work With a Dallas Divorce Lawyer

Like all things legal, a Dallas divorce comes with its fair share of rules, paperwork, and procedures. If you fail to follow even one of Dallas's divorce rules, you risk having your case thrown out, or worse yet, risk your spouse receiving the judge's favor. When you work with a Dallas divorce lawyer, you can avoid any unnecessary complications and costly mistakes, and sail through the divorce process as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Sharon and Ozzy, Kris and Bruce, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Older Hollywood staples are proving that divorce does not discriminate and that it does touch even couples who have been together for 20 or more years. The 'gray divorce,' or 'silver divorce,' is a relatively new concept, and is on the rise as more individuals agree that divorce is not really so taboo after all.

A study done by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University in Ohio reveals that one in four divorces today occur amongst couples who are older than 50. But why? Why spend more than half your life - and the hard half, at that - with someone, just to part ways when the supposed golden years arrive? Our Dallas divorce lawyers at the Clark Law Group
cite popular reasons for gray divorce, and provide tips on how to prevent it.

Top Three Reasons for Gray Divorce

With domestic violence making headlines as of late (with Johnny Depp being accused of ongoing domestic violence by wife, Amber Heard, and television actor Michael Jace, sentenced to 40 years in prison for shooting his wife to death), our Dallas family violence attorneys feel that it is necessary to recap your rights when faced with domestic violence. No form of domestic abuse is 'too innocent' to not report and prevent. If you or a loved one is the victim of domestic abuse, consult with a legal representative from our family law firm to learn more about your protective options.

Your Legal Protections Against Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a very serious allegation, and you should only seek protective injunctions if you are seriously being abused. Accusations, like abuse itself, can have severe criminal repercussions that only the guilty should have to deal with. With that in mind, if you are the victim of domestic violence, do not allow it to continue for another day. At the Law Offices of Stephen Clark, we are here to protect you. In the meantime, here are four civil and criminal protection orders that you can file for to protect yourself: