Problem: Article: Going to court to establish paternity should only be used as a last resort. This method is often utilized when a suspected father is avoiding his legal obligations to a child and the mother wants to establish paternity so the father will be required to fulfill those legal obligations. However, a man can also bring a paternity suit, which often involves the mother not allowing a suspected father visitation and/or custody rights. If you have decided that getting a court order is the best option for you, you must begin the process by accessing and filling out the required court documents. While this article will use California as an example, most states will generally follow the same procedures. In California, you will be required to fill out a Petition to Establish Parental Relationship; a Summons; and a Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The Petition to Establish Parental Relationship asks for information including your name, the child's information, and information about what you are asking the court for (e.g., parent-child relationship, child custody, reasonable expenses of pregnancy, and/or costs of litigation). The Summons is an informational form telling the other parent about the proceedings that have been brought. It states that the other party is being sued and it asks that other party to read the form. The Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act form asks you to indicate the children involved in the suit you are bringing and asks you to provide their personal information to the court. The form also asks if you have ever been involved in another similar suit with these children before, whether you have ever been the subject of a restraining order or protective order, and whether there are any other parties with custody or visitation rights the the child or children in question. Once you have filled out the required forms, you will file them with the clerk of courts at your county's courthouse. You will be required to pay a filing fee, although if you cannot afford the fee you may be able to file for a fee waiver here. Once you have filed your forms, you will have to serve the papers you filed, as well as a blank Response to Petition to Establish Parental Relationship and a blank Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. You can choose to serve the other parent personally, which involves someone giving the papers to the other parent personally, or you can serve the other parent through the mail, which involves sending the papers to the other parent. Whoever you have serve the other parent will fill out and return a Proof of Service of Summons, which you will then file with the clerk of courts where you filed your original forms. After the other parent is served, they will have 30 days to respond to your suit. The other parent may either respond and agree with your suit or they may respond and challenge your suit. If the other parent responds to your suit and agrees with you that you are the father (or that they are the father), the suit will be uncontested. If, on the other hand, the other parent responds and disputes that you are the father (or that they are the father), the suit will be considered contested. If the suit is uncontested, you and the other parent will fill out a number of forms found here and you will file them with the clerk of courts. These various forms simply ask you to verify that you understand the consequences of what you are agreeing to and asks you to agree that you are the parent of the child. If the suit is contested, it is most likely because the alleged father will want a paternity test conducted in order to verify that they (or you) are indeed the father of the child. In this situation, a judge may ask the alleged father to submit a DNA sample, which can be taken by an oral swab or a blood test, and that DNA sample will then be compared to the DNA of the child.
Summary: Consider when this method may be an option. Fill out your court forms. File your forms with the clerk of courts. Serve your documents on the other parent. File your proof of service. Wait 30 days for the other parent's response. Decide whether you have a contested or uncontested case and complete the process.

Problem: Article: Logs should be processed into lumber as soon as possible to prevent the ends from drying and the wood from rotting. While the ideal thickness for lumber is 1 inch (2.5cm), you may saw your logs into lumber that is between inch to 2 inches (5.1cm) in thickness. If you are processing the wood yourself, make an effort to achieve uniform length and thickness. If you are unable to saw your own logs, find a sawmill to do the job for you. You may wish to cut your wood slightly oversized to account for shrinkage. The ends of lumber cure faster than the rest of the wood. To ensure that your wood cures evenly, it is best to seal the ends immediately after sawing the logs into lumber. You may coat each end of the wood in a commercial end sealer, paraffin wax, polyurethane shellac, or latex paint. Build up a thick layer of the sealer of your choice to prevent moisture from escaping out of the ends. When air-drying your wood, the curing time is determined by a simple formula. Allow 1 year of drying time per 1 inch (2.5cm) of thickness. This formula only provides a rough estimate. It does not account for all variables, such as the weather and the location of the woodpile. For example, if a piece of wood is 1 inch thick, it would take 1 year to properly cure the lumber.
Summary:
Process the wood. Seal the ends of the lumber. Determine its cure time.