The benefits of filing paternity actions are often underrated. When children are born to parents out of wedlock, fathers do not have any custody rights. This is true even if fathers are listed on birth certificates. Similarly, mothers may not have rights to child support without a paternity action. In some cases, mothers may receive orders that an alleged father must pay child support, even though the alleged father is not actually the biological father. In these scenarios, paternity actions can help to establish and obtain custody rights, receive a child support order, or show that an alleged father is not the father to eliminate a child support obligation. There are many uses for paternity actions, and they cannot be overlooked.