Parentage, established or challenged
Paternity Lawyers in Chicago, IL
Every right a parent has begins with a legal finding of parentage.
Chicago · Cook County · All of Illinois
I.The Matter
Parenting time, decision-making, support: none of it exists until parentage does. Arami Law establishes and challenges paternity under the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015: Voluntary Acknowledgments, genetic testing, and the litigation that follows when the answer changes a family’s obligations.
Establishing Paternity Under the Illinois Parentage Act
Illinois recognizes parentage by presumption (marriage), by Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity, and by adjudication under 750 ILCS 46. A VAP signed at the hospital is fast, and it is binding. After a short rescission window it carries the force of a judgment. Which path to take, and what it commits you to, deserves counsel before signature, not after.
DNA Testing and Contested Parentage in Cook County
When parentage is disputed, courts order genetic testing on motion, and the results reshape support, parenting time, and inheritance rights. We litigate both directions: fathers establishing rights to children being kept from them, and men challenging acknowledgments or presumptions entered on facts that were not true.
From Parentage to Parenting Time in Illinois
A paternity finding is the beginning, not the end. It fixes support obligations under Illinois’ income-shares guidelines and opens the door to allocation of parenting time and decision-making, proceedings we handle as custody litigators, not form-filers. For unmarried fathers especially, the sequence from VAP to enforceable parenting plan is where rights are won or quietly lost.
How a Contested Paternity Case Proceeds in Cook County
A contested parentage case begins with a petition and, where the facts are disputed, a motion for genetic testing, which the court can order over a party’s objection. Once results establish or exclude parentage, the case typically proceeds directly into allocation of parenting time and a support calculation, often in the same proceeding rather than a separate one.
What Makes a Paternity Case Different From a Custody Case?
A custody case assumes parentage and argues about the schedule. A paternity case has to establish the legal relationship first, and until it does, a biological father has no enforceable right to parenting time no matter how involved he has been. That first step is not a formality. It is the entire case until it is resolved.
Legally reviewed byKourosh Arami, Esq.Founding Attorney · Chicago-Kent College of Law · 21 years of Illinois family law practiceEditorial Policy
Retained by
- Unmarried fathers establishing rights to their children
- Men asked to sign a VAP, or wishing to challenge one
- Mothers establishing parentage for support
- Parties contesting parentage where the facts changed
Arami Law serves clients across Chicago, Cook County, and the collar counties, including the North Shore communities of Winnetka, Wilmette, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Evanston, and Lake Forest.
II.The Approach
Prepared as if it will be tried.
Choose the right path
Presumption, acknowledgment, or adjudication: the mechanism shapes every right that follows. It is chosen deliberately.
Test when it matters
Court-ordered genetic testing on motion, handled with speed and discretion, before positions harden around the wrong facts.
Convert the finding
Parentage is converted into an enforceable parenting plan and accurate support order rather than left as a paper right.
Defend the record
Challenges to VAPs and presumptions run on strict deadlines. When the facts were wrong, we move before the window closes.
III.Questions
Paternity in Illinois, answered.
IV.The Inquiry
Submit your matter for confidential review.
The firm accepts a limited number of matters each year. Kourosh personally reviews every inquiry, in confidence.
Prefer to speak directly? (312) 212-1399
Serving Chicago, Cook County, and all of Illinois.