Fundamentals Of Paternity ClaimsLegally, paternity is the term by which a father is granted enforceable rights and responsibilities to his child. This is established in any one of the three ways: by presumption, by an acknowledgment, or by a court order. If the parties are married, the state presumes the husband is the father of any children of the marriage. This presumption can, of course, be rebutted in many ways. Paternity can be also be established by the proper execution of an acknowledgment of paternity. Proceedings A paternity proceeding can be made in Family Court by filing a verified petition from a party seeking to establish paternity. If the woman is married, her husband must be named as a party to the proceeding. In court, both parties have the option to consent to an order of paternity which means there is no question of paternity and that no side is requesting blood or DNA tests. This is a critical point because it is very difficult to overturn a consent order of paternity. It can stand very well even if in the future it is found that the legal father is not the biological father. If there is no consent order of paternity, the court will generally order blood or DNA tests. Once the results are known, the parties will once again have the option to consent to an order of paternity. If there is no consent order of paternity, the court will generally order blood or DNA tests. Once the results of the blood or DNA tests are known, the parties once again will generally have the option to consent to an order of paternity, or request a hearing. Probabilities In legal assessment, blood and DNA testing can exclude a man from being a father but they cannot establish paternity by 100%. Both blood and DNA testing involve a chemical analysis of matching proteins. The probability of paternity is determined based on a statistical analysis of the number of matches. While 100% can never be reached, DNA tests can be accurate to a fraction of a percent. Results The opposing parties are not required to accept the test results. One party seeking to challenge the blood or DNA testing can attack either the chain of custody of the samples or the underlying mathematics of the statistical analysis. These challenges are by nature very difficult, and consequently, very expensive as well. Prevention In a paternity proceeding, it is also possible that a party may be prevented from denying paternity based on past actions or statements. An example would be if that party has alleged paternity in some other court proceedings or document, he may be prevented from denying paternity. Similarly, if a man has held himself out to be the father of a child, he may be estopped (prevented) from denying paternity in court. Finally, the actions of a putative father can affect the statute of limitations for paternity proceedings. Each case is fact-sensitive. Statute of limitations The time to start a paternity proceeding is any time during the pregnancy of the mother, or after the child is born but not after twenty-one years, unless paternity is acknowledged by the father or he paid support. Paternity proceedings, for the most part, have always been difficult, emotional, and expensive. One must be armed with some fundamental knowledge of the law if one has to survive it.
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