PATERNITY

Establishing or disestablishing paternity

A paternity determination is a legal document or presumption which establishes who is the paternal parent of a child. Establishing paternity also establishes certain rights, namely custody and access and child support.

Paternity Determination Process

Paternity can be established in one of three ways:

  1. Marital Presumption – if the mother was married when the child was born, her husband is presumed to be the child's father.

  2. Affidavit of Parentage – if both parents sign an Affidavit of Parentage soon after the child’s birth, then the parents listed on that document are legally that child's parents. This is a voluntary way to establish paternity.

  3. Judicial Declaration – if the parents are neither married nor voluntarily agree to sign an Affidavit of Parentage, they can go to court to establish paternity.

Establishing Paternity

To establish paternity by judicial declaration, you will file a petition for paternity. Once the other party has had the opportunity to respond, the Court will set a paternity inquiry hearing and enter a genetic testing order to get both parties, and the child tested. Once the genetic test results are returned, they must be filed with the Court. The Court will then hold a paternity hearing, read the genetic test results, and enter a paternity declaration pursuant to the results. Most courts do not consider genetic tests performed by private companies.

To overcome the establishment of paternity, either through the Affidavit of Parentage or the Marital Presumption, the Court will set a hearing to allow a judge to determine whether it is in the child’s best interest to continue with the paternity matter. If the judge determines that it is in the child’s best interest to continue with this inquiry, he or she will issue a genetic testing order and proceed with the inquiry as described above. Markham Law Firm can help you pursue or defend against a paternity action.

Contact Us

If you require assistance with paternity determination or have any questions regarding our services, please don't hesitate to call our office at 240-396-4373 or click here to contact our office.