If I pay child support for my child, can I get visitations rights

For the father of a child born out of wedlock dad has no parental rights whatsoever. What you need to do is establish legitimacy by court order. You file the petition in the Superior Court of the County where the mother resides. Legitimacy is presumed to be in the best interest of the child, so we start of with the proposition that it will be granted. It takes rather severe facts for legitimacy to be denied. In the legitimacy case you will obtain visitation rights and possibly some shared legal custody rights. If the child support you have been paying is informal, then a child support order will be entered along with the legitimacy order. You should retain a lawyer for the best results.

No, you have a duty to support your child under the law irrespective of whether you have any visitation or custody rights...and you have no visitation or custody rights simply because you pay child support. Georgia statutory law states that it is "the joint and several duty of each parent of a child born out of wedlock to provide for the maintenance, protection, and education of the child until the child reaches the age of 18 or becomes emancipated, except to the extent that the duty of one parent is otherwise or further defined by court order." OCGA § 19-7-24 (West) To be clear, signing am acknowledgment of paternity only establishes your biological relationship with your child, while signing an acknowledgment of legitimation establishes the legal relationship between you and your child and allows your child to inherit from you as if born in lawful wedlock. However... if you want visitation with or custody of your child, you have to petition the Superior Court. Until then, you have no right to visitation or parenting time with your child, and the mother can allow or disallow it at her whim, as unfortunate as that may be - for you and your child. You need to seek local counsel and file an action for legitimation and parenting time or custody if you want consistent parenting time with your child and if you want to have some decision making ability in her life.

You have parental rights but you need to establish paternity in court, as well as custody and parenting time. Child support is a separate issue but should also be established in court so you get credit for that support. Consult with a family law attorney in your area as soon as possible. Make this a priority. You can start by send the mother an email or certified letter requesting specific parenting time that way you can show you efforts. This does not replace the need to take court action. You will need court orders for enforcement purposes. Good luck. You and your child deserve a relationship. Happy Father's Day. I hope you next one is spent with your child.

Paying support, which the law requires, does not give you parental rights. You need to get a lawyer, file for legitimization and ask the judge for parenting time - either custody or visitation. Without that you won't see the child. The longer you delay a legitimization the harder the case becomes.