Answering questions about Paternity-#1
by Frie, Arndt & DanbornWhat is the definition of the parent-child relationship?
The legal definition of a parent-child relationship is established either with proof of a biological relationship or proof of legal adoption by the parent or parents.
Does the relationship between the parent and child depend on the parents’ marital status?
No, the legal parent-child relationship exists regardless of marital status and it extends equally to every child and every parent.
A man is presumed to be the natural or biological father of a child if:
–He and the child’s birth mother are married or have been married to each other and the child is born during that marriage or within 300 days after the marriage ends because of death, annulment, declaration of invalidity of 
marriage, divorce, or court order of legal separation; or
-Before the child’s birth, the father and the child’s birth mother have tried to legally marry although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
-If the marriage could be declared invalid only by the court and the child is born during the attempted marriage or within 300 days after it ends; OR
-If the attempted marriage is declared invalid by the court and the child is born within 300 days after the parents stop living together
-After the child’s birth, the father and the child’s birth mother have tried to legally marry although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
-The father has admitted in writing that the child is his and filed the statement with the court or the office of vital statistics, unless paternity already has been decided as a legal fact.
-The father agrees to be named as the child’s father on the child’s birth certificate.
-The father has either volunteered or has been forced by a court or administrative order to support the child.
-While the child is under the age of 18, the father lets the child come to his home and the father tells people that the child is his.
-The father has admitted in writing that the child is his and filed the statement with the court or the office of vital statistics, and the mother does not deny, within a reasonable time, that he is the father. Any other man who might be presumed to be the father must agree, in writing, that he is not the father.
-The father has genetic or other paternity tests at a court-approved agency, and these tests show that there is a 97 percent or higher chance that he is the father.
A woman is presumed to be the natural or biological mother if:
-The mother has a birth certificate or similar paperwork that proves she gave birth to the child; or
-Any of the ways listed above for a man to prove he is a father also may be used by a woman to prove she is the mother.
