How Paternity Is Determined In And Out Of Marriage
Herbert A. Glieberman author of more than 30 articles,chapters & books on family law has practiced divorce law exclusively since 1954.Addressing issues of pre & postnuptial agreements,divorce, alimony,child custody & support,visitation and paternity cases
A child born or conceived during marriage, even if the married couple separates or divorces, is presumed to be the legitimate child of the marriage. But that presumption can be rebutted by a blood test.
In most instances where a child's legitimacy is at issue, it is the husband who has his doubts and wants to make certain that the child he is being asked to support is indeed his. However, there are cases when a mother wants to establish that a child born during her marriage is not her husband's so that he cannot have custody of the child, or even visitation rights with the child.
It could also be that the mother's purpose is to have another man established as the father of the child so that the biological father, and not her husband, will support the child if the married couple is headed for a divorce.
When a child's legitimacy becomes an issue, the party challenging the legitimacy can request a court to have a blood test of the mother, father and child in question to validate or disprove legitimacy.
DNA Test is the Current Standard
The test currently being used nationwide is a DNA blood test, which has proved far more accurate and reliable than any other type of blood test for that purpose. In Illinois, as in most states, paternity of a father can be established by a court-ordered DNA test. If any of the parties refuse to submit to the test, the court has discretion to decide the paternity question itself. In Illinois, a wife can bring an action to declare the nonexistence of a relationship between her child and her husband as long as it is brought no later then two years after she obtains knowledge of the relevant facts, and the child must be under 18. Other states impose similar time limits on how long such an action can be brought, so it is worth checking the laws before starting-or, better, not to wait around and allow time to run out if there is any question that paternity needs to be established.
Herbert A. Glieberman is a family lawyer in Chicago, IL, and a member of the USLaw.com Affiliate Network. He can be reached at 19 South LaSalle Street, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60603-1402, email: hglieber@aol.com.
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