Dayton Divorce Help Releases Ohio Paternity Online Guide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 21, 2009 -- OHIO PATERNITY GUIDE:
Read more at www.daytondivorcehelp.com or www.morrisonandnicholson.com



Establishing Paternity Generally

paternity_kidThis section will address the issue of establishing a parent-child relationship. This is almost universally an issue of establishing that a particular man is the father of a particular child. Once there is a parent-child relationship established, the parent has certain rights, duties and obligations as to the care and custody of the child. Often, the issue is one of a mother wanting to establish paternity in order to have a child support award issued which will obligate the father to help support his child. On the other hand, fathers often want to establish paternity so that he may have the right to custody or visitation.


In many cases, there is no issue as to who the father of the child is, as the parents were married when the child was born, the husband was listed on the birth certificate and is presumed to be the father of the child. However, when a child is born to an unmarried mother, the issue can be much more complicated.

The parent and child relationship between a child and a child's natural mother may be established by simply submitting proof of her having given birth to the child (e.g. birth certificate). For the mother, it is simple, if she gave birth to the child, then she is the parent of that child and has all the rights, responsibilities and obligations that come with being a parent in Ohio.



Ohio Paternity Test


The parent and child relationship between a child and the natural father of the child may be established when it is needed most simply by an acknowledgment of paternity as provided by the statute. Generally, there are a different ways that paternity can be established under Ohio law, with those commonly being:

1. Voluntary “acknowledgment” by the father (easiest way if mother & father are in agreement)

2. Through an administrative procedure (discussed below)

3. Through a court proceeding brought by the mother, the alleged father, or the child itself in some situations

Presumptions of Paternity

Before we get to the various ways to establish paternity, we should first discuss the fact that very often there is no need to take steps to establish paternity at all. There are certain presumptions in Ohio family law that attempt to establish paternity without any affirmative action needed by the mother or father. The law will simply presume that a man is the father and impose certain obligations on the father without affirmative proof the man is the father. Probably the most common presumption is if the child is born to a married woman. This presumption is discussed in the next section.


Presumption: Child Born to Married Women

The law presumes that a child born in wedlock is a legitimate child and that the husband is the father. This is the easiest and simplest manner that fatherhood is established. Believe it or not, this presumption is in force even if the women committed adultery during the marriage. It should also be noted that if a child is born after the marriage is terminated through divorce, dissolution or annulment, the child is still considered to be legitimate as long as the child is born within 300 days of the termination of the marriage (the date the final decree is filed).
A presumption under the statute that a child conceived in wedlock is legitimate can be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the women’s husband is not actually the father of her child. The presumption is overcome by clear and convincing evidence (such as blood or other DNA testing) that satisfactorily eliminates the husband as the father of the child.

The presumption may also be rebutted upon proof that the husband and wife did not engage in intercourse during the time in which the child must have been conceived. However, if there is evidence in a proceeding that a husband and wife had sexual relations during the time the child must have been conceived, the child is presumed to be legitimate and the husband is the father.

Note: A man who marries a woman while she is pregnant is presumed to be the natural father of any child born from such pregnancy. However, this presumption of paternity can again be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. Basically, if a man marries a woman while she is pregnant, it is a presumption that her children are also his children when they are born during the course of the marriage. Certainly one common motivator for marriage is the fact that the women is pregnant. This particular rule simply recognizes this fact as a matter of policy.

Note: That paternity will still be presumed for a child born to a couple that attempted a valid marriage, but for some reason the marriage can be determined invalid under state law. Basically, if a man and a women attempt to marry, but the marriage doesn’t follow state laws and is determined invalid, the “husband” of the invalid marriage is still presumed to be the father of a child if it is born during the invalid marriage, or within 300 days of the invalid marriage being terminated.

Presumption: Acknowledgment Not Yet Finalized

We will address acknowledgment of paternity in another section, but first you should know that another presumption of paternity arises when a father has filed an “Acknowledgement” of paternity, but it has not yet been finalized. During this pendency period, the man that signed the acknowledgement is presumed to be the father of the child, and this presumption can only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. In contrast to this presumption period, once an acknowledgment is finalized, paternity is no longer presumed but is considered “determined”. Once paternity is determined, it can no longer be rebutted at all by the father. However, an acknowledgment can be rescinded under statute and when this happens the paternity status falls back to only being presumed under law. Once paternity is only presumed again, that presumption can then be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence.

Other Presumptions
There are other forms of paternity presumptions under Ohio family law. However, because these presumptions mostly deal with the very narrow categories of situations that involve artificial insemination and embryonic donation births, we will not discuss them in this article. If you have a paternity case involving artificial insemination or the use of embryonic donation, please call our office to discuss the generalities.

Parties that can bring an action to Establish Paternity

If the law does not presume paternity, and one or more parties must take affirmative action to establish paternity, there are a few different mechanisms available to those with standing to bring such action. Under Ohio law, only the following parties have standing to bring an action to establish paternity

1. The Child (or child’s representative)
2. The mother
3. The man claiming he is the father of the child (or his representative)
4. The Child Support Enforcement Agency, but only if the mother or putative father are on public assistance
5. Anyone providing support for a child born of an unmarried minor girl may bring an action to establish that a minor male is the father of the child (think parents of minor mother!)

Note: A man that has been presumed to be the father of a child under one of the statutory presumptions can bring an action to prove he is not the father. He must put forth clear and convincing evidence, including DNA evidence, that he is not the father. Once he successfully establishes he is not the father of a child, he is no longer obligated to support the child, nor does he have any rights to custody or visitation.


Note: There are statutes of limitations on bringing paternity actions in the juvenile court. An action to establish paternity cannot be brought more than 5 years after the child achieves the age of 18. In essence, a party has until the child is 23 to bring the action. Often, a child will want to establish paternity even though he is an adult in order to inherit from the putative father.

Also, a common-law action for “necessaries” brought in the court of common pleas by a married woman alleging that she has delivered an illegitimate child by a man other than her present husband, must be brought within 4 years after the birth of such child.


Specific Ways to Establish Paternity
As previously noted, there are a few avenues a party may take to establish paternity (or to establish the lack of paternity). Basically, a party with standing can:

1.Bring an action in the juvenile court, court of common pleas, or even a probate court (in some circumstances) to establish paternity, or
2. Can request an Administrative Determination from CSEA, or
3. The parties can voluntarily acknowledge paternity by filing the appropriate affidavit

Administrative Determination

The mother or putative father may bring an action with the local County Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) to establish paternity. The CSEA will then order all parties to submit to genetic testing and will issue an administrative paternity order based on the outcome of the genetic test. For a paternity order to be established, the test must show at least a 99% probability of fatherhood. The CSEA can have anyone not cooperating with the genetic testing found in contempt of court. In other words, if the father or the mother fails to submit to genetic testing when a request has been filed, they can be found in contempt of court. If the mother fails to submit the child for testing, she can be found in contempt for that failure as well. After all, the agency will need to conduct genetic testing of the child in order to determine who the father is.

read more at http://www.daytondivorcehelp.com Dayton Divorce Help or http://www.morrisonandnicholson.com/ohiolawblog/ Dayton Ohio Law Blog

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