Paternity Issues and Child Support
Establishing paternity is a critical step towards collecting child support.
The question "Who is the father?" is not as simple a question as you might think. Different circumstances give rise to different legal rules.
When Paternity Is Agreed On or Presumed
Acknowledged father. An acknowledged father is a biological father of a child born to unmarried parents, for whom paternity has been established by either the admission of the father or the agreement of the parents. An acknowledged father must pay child support.
Presumed father. If any of the following are true, a man is presumed to be the father of a child, unless he or the mother proves otherwise to a court:
- The man was married to the mother when the child was conceived or born, although some states do not consider a man to be a presumed father if the couple has separated.
- The man attempted to marry the mother (even if the marriage was not valid) and the child was conceived or born during the "marriage."
- The man married the mother after the birth and agreed either to have his name on the birth certificate or to support the child.
- The man welcomed the child into his home and openly held the child out as his own.
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In some states, any of these presumptions of paternity is considered conclusive, which means it cannot be disproven, even with contradictory blood tests. In Michael H. v. Gerald D., 491 U.S. 110 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld California's presumed father statute as a rational method of protecting the integrity of the family against challenges based on the due process rights of the father and the child.
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