After the pop-star Beyonce Knowles and her husband Sean "Jay-Z" Carter announced news of Beyonce's pregnancy it created history's biggest Twitter storm. It was bigger even than the death of Osama Bin Laden or the Japanese Earthquake, reports Huffington Post.
If a pregnancy has that kind of cache, then its likely going to spur discussions as well. One conversation was launched by Charing Ball, a columnist for the Atlanta Post, which describes itself as "an online news site about African-American business news and African-American politics."
In her piece Charing Ball argued that Beyonce seems to be receiving a considerable amount of credit for having a child “the right way” — which presumably means in the traditional order of dating first, then marriage, then child. Ms. Ball argued that this kind of talk shamed those single mothers who for whatever reason did not follow this trajectory.
Ms. Ball’s argument comes at a time in America when the country has an exceptionally high number of unmarried mothers. According one 2008 survey by the Pew Center, 41% of new mothers are unmarried. Many mothers simply do not follow Beyonce’s path to motherhood.
For many single mothers there are a plethora of legal issues they must navigate. The foremost have to do with paternity and child support.
Paternity is significant because it is a DNA test that can establish to a high degree of certainty who the father of the child is. This, in turn, can allow a single mother to have a second person to help with the child.
Paternity establishment can also lead to a second important element: child support. A single mother can bring an action for child support and receive payments from the “non-custodial” parent to help pay for food, clothing, education and day-care of a child.
Finally, establishing paternity is also necessary if a single mother is planning on filing for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. This program provides monthly cash payments to help children and their families with basic needs. The amount of money a family receives depends on the family size and the income of the family.
Single moms, whether doing it the “right” way or not, should know their rights and what they can do to make sure their children get the support they deserve. An Atlanta family law attorney can help.
Related Resources:
- Find an Atlanta Family Law attorney (FindLaw)
- Single Parent Statistics (Single Parent Success Foundation)
- The Parent Tax Credit (FindLaw)
- Single Motherhood & The Difficulties Of Dating (Atlanta Family Law News Blog)
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