Paternity Proceedings
Establishment of Paternity
If you believe you are the father of a child but are not included on the child’s birth certificate or signed an affidavit of parentage, you can file a petition to establish paternity to determine if you will be legally recognized as the child’s father.
Paternity can be established in three ways:
- By marital presumption – If the mother is married at the time of a child’s conception or birth, Maryland law presumes that the mother’s husband is the father of the child.
- By affidavit of parentage – If the mother is not married when a child is born, both parents can sign an affidavit of parentage to establish paternity.
- By judicial declaration – If the mother is not married when a child is born and both parents do not sign an affidavit of parentage, paternity can be established by a court order. This process generally involves genetic testing, unless the father affirms under oath that he is the child’s father and the mother agrees.
Disestablishment of Paternity
Parents have a legal obligation to support their minor children. Disestablishing paternity generally arises when one parent requests child support from the other parent. Depending on how paternity was established, if you are served with a request for child support and you do not believe you are the father of the child, you can file a petition to disestablish paternity to ask the court to declare that you are not the child’s father, thereby relieving you of an obligation to pay child support.
Meet Our Family Law Team
Monica Scherer and her team are dedicated to providing aggressive representation and sound legal advice to our family law clients. Our attorneys have many years of litigation experience and provide effective representation to our clients in all types of family law matters, including paternity.
