Do two never married people need to have a court ordered custody arrangement in order for one to start child support?

      When a child is born out of wedlock, one of the parties will need to initiate a paterntiy action to establish that the person is the biological father of the child, usually by DNA testing. If there is state involvement (assistance), the child support enforcement attorneys also can initiate a paternity action. Once DNA tests establishes that this person is the biological father and they are adjudicated in court as being the father, the court will hold what is  called a "terms hearing" to deal with issues of child custody, placement, visitation, child support, health insurance, uninsured expenses, birthing expenses and any other issues dealing with the child.        The parties also have the option of filing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity on a form provided by the state that after the revocation period expires,  that acts as a judgment of paternity and skips step one outlined above. After the voluntary acknowledgment of paterntiy is filed, either party, or the state, can file for the "terms hearing" to deal with the other issues of the case.