Naperville Paternity Attorneys
Naperville Paternity Lawyers Attorneys at Sterling Lawyers, LLC
Jacqueline N. McClellan
Lea C. Diaz
Nina Kelly
Jeff Hughes
Alexandra Isroff
Cynthia Toscano
Katie VanDeusen
Reyna Herrera
Ryan Shope
Samantha Witting
Are you ready to move forward? Call (312) 757-8082 to schedule a strategy session with one of our attorneys.
About Sterling Lawyers
Paternity cases start from two very different places. Sometimes a parent needs to put parentage on the record so they can ask for parenting time, decision-making, or child support. Other times someone needs to challenge a parentage status that already exists, such as the presumption that the birth mother’s spouse is a parent. Illinois treats those situations differently, including how long you have to act, so the first step is figuring out which one you are in.
Each Naperville family law attorney in our Diehl Road office handles both sides: establishing parentage through an acknowledgment, genetic testing, or a court order, and challenging an acknowledgment or presumption that does not match the facts. Once parentage is settled, we turn to the orders that shape daily life: parenting time, decision-making, and child support.
In DuPage County, paternity cases are part of the Domestic Relations Division’s docket in Wheaton, and parents who never married can be ordered to use the county Family Center, including its parent education seminar, just as divorcing parents are. Will County paternity filings go to the courthouse in Joliet. For the statewide rules, start with paternity in Illinois.
Why Naperville Clients Choose Sterling Lawyers
Fixed Fees, Quoted Before You Sign
A paternity case tends to move in steps, from testing to parentage to a parenting schedule, and with a fixed fee none of those steps restarts a billing clock. You get the fee quote before you sign, and it already accounts for research, calls, emails, and the hours your lawyer puts into the case.
Starting prices for each path appear on our Illinois pricing page. Questions that come up between steps, like what a test result means or how a first schedule should look, are part of the fee rather than separate charges.
Family Law Is the Only Thing We Practice
Paternity is family law, and our attorneys practice nothing else. That focus matters in the small decisions that carry long consequences: a hospital acknowledgment signed in a rush that turns out to be hard to undo, or a support order entered with no parenting order beside it, which Illinois law can treat as giving all parental responsibilities to the other parent.
Straight Answers, Including the Hard Ones
If a challenge is past its deadline or unlikely to succeed, you will hear it from us before you pay for testing. If you are establishing parentage to spend time with your child, we will tell you what a realistic first schedule looks like based on your history together.
When parentage is settled and you are ready to plan time with your child, our Illinois parenting plan template is a good place to sketch a schedule. Parents who largely agree may resolve the rest through our mediated path, and Legal Coaching supports parents who want to handle the filings themselves with an attorney reviewing their work.
Talk to a Naperville Paternity Lawyer
Whether you are trying to be recognized as a parent, contesting a parentage record, or turning parentage into a real schedule, the first conversation starts with the documents you already have. Book a consultation with Sterling Lawyers and we will match you with an attorney from this office.
Are you ready to move forward? Call (312) 757-8082 to schedule a strategy session with one of our attorneys.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a deadline to establish paternity in Illinois?
There is no general cutoff at a child’s second birthday. When a child has no presumed, acknowledged, or adjudicated parent, a case to establish parentage can be filed at any time, even after the child becomes an adult. Deadlines apply when someone wants to undo parentage that is already established. A challenge to a presumed parent, such as the birth mother’s spouse, generally has to be filed within two years after the person challenging knew or should have known the relevant facts. A signed acknowledgment can be rescinded before the earlier of 60 days after it takes effect or the start of a court or administrative proceeding about the child in which the signer is a party. After that, it can be challenged only for fraud, duress, or a material mistake of fact, generally within two years. Waiting to establish parentage still has a cost, because until it is on the record there is no enforceable schedule or support order.
What rights does an unmarried father have before paternity is established?
Very few that a court will enforce. An unmarried father generally has to establish parentage first, by acknowledgment, testing, or court order. Once it is established, he can ask for decision-making responsibilities and parenting time, which the court decides under the same Illinois standards it applies to any parent, and he shares the duty to support the child.
How does DNA testing work in a Naperville paternity case?
When parentage is disputed, the court generally orders genetic testing. If the results do not exclude the alleged parent and show a combined parentage index of at least 1,000 to 1 with at least a 99.9% probability, that person is presumed to be the parent. A party who refuses testing can have the issue resolved against them. In some situations, the court can also decline to order testing that would disrupt a parent-child relationship that is already established.
Do I need a lawyer if we both agree I am the father?
Not to establish parentage. Both parents can sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity, and once it is filed with the state, parentage is established without a court case. But the acknowledgment carries the weight of a court judgment and sets no schedule, decision-making terms, or support on its own. If you want an enforceable schedule or a support order, a court case is how you get one, and that is where an attorney earns the fee.
What documents help in a paternity consultation?
Bring the child’s birth certificate, any signed acknowledgment or denial of paternity, and any earlier court or administrative orders involving the child, including support orders. Add genetic test results if you have them, marriage or divorce records if the birth mother was married around the time of the birth, and the texts and emails exchanged with the other parent about the child. If you are asking for parenting time, bring a record of the time you have spent with the child and what you have paid toward the child’s expenses, along with your own recent income records.
