When a child is born to parents who are not married, the father has no legal rights to the child until his paternity is established. Until then, the mother is the child's only natural guardian and has the right to the child's primary care and custody unless a court orders otherwise. Even after paternity is established, a timesharing schedule takes a court order. A paternity case changes that: it legally establishes who the father is, and then sets the parenting plan, timesharing and child support. Reyes Miller Law Group handles paternity cases for mothers and fathers in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe, Orange, Hillsborough and Leon counties.
How Reyes Miller Law Group handles paternity cases
Establishing paternity
We file the paternity petition, request genetic testing when paternity is disputed and ask the court to establish the father's legal rights and duties.
Timesharing for unmarried fathers
Once paternity is established, we pursue a parenting plan and timesharing schedule under the same equal-timesharing presumption married parents have.
Child support in paternity cases
We calculate guideline support and, where appropriate, support going back to before the case was filed.
Challenging paternity
When a man has been named as the father and has real reason to doubt it, we look at whether the law still allows a challenge, and how.
Representing mothers
We represent mothers seeking support and a parenting plan, and mothers responding to a father's petition.
What Florida law says
The mother's rights before paternity is established
Under section 744.301, Florida Statutes, until the father establishes paternity, the mother of a child born outside marriage is the child's natural guardian and is entitled to primary residential care and custody unless a court orders otherwise. Once paternity is established, by court order or by an acknowledgment that can no longer be cancelled, both parents are natural guardians, but parental responsibility and timesharing are still set by the court (sections 742.011 and 742.10).
Voluntary acknowledgment
Parents can sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity. Once the 60-day window to cancel it has passed (sooner if a court or support case about the child starts first), it legally establishes paternity and can then be challenged only for fraud, duress or material mistake of fact (section 742.10). It does not, on its own, create a timesharing schedule.
Genetic testing
In a contested case the court can order genetic testing of the mother, the child and the alleged father (section 742.12).
Retroactive support
Child support in a paternity case can generally reach back up to 24 months before the petition was filed (section 61.30(17)).
The same parenting law as a divorce
Once paternity is established, parental responsibility and timesharing are decided under section 61.13, the same law that applies in a divorce.
What happens after you reach out
- 1
A free consultation
Call or send the form. You talk with the firm about what is happening, in English or Spanish, at no cost.
- 2
We review your papers
Bring any petition, order, agreement or letter you have received. Family court deadlines are short, so we look for those first.
- 3
An honest plan
You get a straight assessment of your options and what each one is likely to cost in time and money.
- 4
We handle the case
If you hire the firm, we prepare and file the papers, deal with the other side, and represent you at mediation and in court.
Where we handle paternity cases
Reyes Miller Law Group takes cases in these seven Florida counties. Each county's family cases are heard in its own judicial circuit.
- Palm Beach County
15th Judicial Circuit
Main Judicial Center (Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley Courthouse)
- Miami-Dade County
11th Judicial Circuit
Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center
- Broward County
17th Judicial Circuit
Broward County Central Courthouse, Judicial Complex West Building
- Monroe County
16th Judicial Circuit
- Orange County
9th Judicial Circuit
Orange County Courthouse
- Hillsborough County
13th Judicial Circuit
George E. Edgecomb Courthouse
- Leon County
2nd Judicial Circuit
Leon County Courthouse
Our offices
THE FIRM
The sword and the shield.
Reyes Miller Law Group is built for clients who cannot afford a poor outcome. The firm combines strategic litigation, negotiation, mediation, and practical family-law guidance.
WHAT WE DO
- Divorce, custody & family law litigation
- Uncontested & simplified divorce
- Paternity, petitions, counter-petitions & responses
- Child support, alimony & modifications
- Parenting plans, timesharing & parental responsibility
- Equitable distribution of marital assets & debts
- Prenuptial & postnuptial agreements
- Name changes & legal document preparation
- Aggressive negotiation & skilled mediation
- High-conflict divorce, custody & parental alienation
- Child abduction & wrongful retention (Hague Convention)
- Domestic violence injunctions — petitioners & respondents
- Complex, high-asset & high-net-worth divorce
- Emergency motions, ex parte relief & contempt
- Relocation disputes — in-state & out-of-state
Frequently asked questions
Does an unmarried father have rights to his child in Florida?
Once his paternity is legally established, by court order or by an acknowledgment that can no longer be cancelled, he has the rights and responsibilities of a parent. But he has no enforceable timesharing until a court enters a parenting plan, so signing an acknowledgment or being on the birth certificate is a first step, not a schedule.
Can the mother move away before paternity is established?
Florida's relocation statute applies once there is a timesharing order or a pending case. Before then it does not restrict where the mother lives with the child, which is one reason fathers should not wait to file.
What if I am not sure I am the father?
You can ask for genetic testing as part of the case, before support or timesharing is decided.
Can a paternity finding be undone?
Only in limited situations. Once the 60-day window to cancel it has passed, an acknowledgment can be challenged only for fraud, duress or material mistake of fact, and Florida has a separate statute for disestablishing paternity in some cases (section 742.18).
Can a mother get child support without a paternity case?
Not from a father whose paternity has not been established. Paternity and support are usually decided together in the same case.
Other cases we handle
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Managing partner
Yvette B. Reyes, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 53510 · Practicing in Florida since 1995 · Read her profile
Page updated September 2026. This page describes the services of Reyes Miller Law Group and general Florida law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Full disclaimer.
