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The following information regarding paternity is brought to you as a public service by the lawyers of the State of Oregon. The material presented is general legal information intended to alert you to possible legal problems and solutions.
Paternity is legal fatherhood. When paternity is established, the father gains the rights and the duties of a parent. In Oregon there are several common ways to establish paternity. For example, when a child is born during marriage when the husband and wife are living together, the law presumes the husband is the legal father of the child. Either parent can challenge this presumption, however. Paternity can be established by the marriage of the parents after the child’s birth. It can be established through formal court proceedings called "filiation". It also can be established if both parents sign a joint declaration of paternity under oath that they file with the State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics. The father's name is then added to the birth certificate.
In some cases, it is possible to dis-establish paternity once it has been established.
As a father, whether or not married to the mother, you have certain rights and responsibilities. You have the right to ask for custody or parenting time with the child. These decisions are always made by a court. Normally, a father has a right to parenting time with a child, and if you and the mother cannot agree on a schedule, the court will create one. You also have the right to know about school progress and medical care for your child, unless the court orders otherwise.
If your child does not live with you, you will have to pay child support, which is primarily based upon your income. Medical insurance, childcare, and recurring medical needs are part of the support, and you may also have to pay birth expenses. Your responsibility to pay child support will continue until your child reaches the age of 18 or 21 if the child is in school or training at least part-time. If your financial situation or that of the mother changes substantially, you can ask the court to decrease your support amount.
The state may bring a paternity action if the mother (or father) and child are receiving state medical or welfare benefits. This is done by personally serving you with a form called a "Notice and Finding of Financial Responsibility." This form starts with the assumption that you are the father and orders you to pay for current support and back support and orders you to provide medical insurance if available to you. Unless paternity has already been established, you will also be ordered to take a paternity test. Genetic testing is normally the most accurate and cheapest method of determining the biological father of the child, and it produces the most convincing evidence. Genetic testing can with rare exceptions tell you that you are not the father, or tell you how likely it is that you are the father. If you object to paternity testing, you should take the matter before a court; however, under most circumstances, the court will order you to take the tests. Many paternity cases are resolved when the genetic testing results are available.
Paternity cases may also begin by a private party filing a lawsuit, in court, with or without a lawyer. The alleged parent will be served with a summons to a circuit court within the state. The alleged parent must then file an answering paper with the court within 30 days, or he will automatically be found to be the parent. Both parties must pay a court fee to file papers, but payment of the fees can be postponed if you are low-income.
Whether the action is started by a lawsuit or with a "Notice and Finding of Financial Responsibility," either party has the right to a trial before a judge. At trail, each side can present evidence to prove who the father is. Examples include: statements made by those involved; whether the supposed parents were dating or living together during the conception period; whether the father (or anyone else) admitted to having had sexual relations with the mother during the conception period; whether the father gave money or gifts to the child; and whether the child physically resembles the father. If the judge concludes that the alleged father is the actual father, the judge will decide other issues in the case, including child support, health insurance, medical bills, court costs and legal fees. If other issues such as custody or parenting time are properly presented, they may be addressed as well.
In some situations, either parent can challenge paternity after it has been established. For example, a parent can rescind a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity form within the shorter of 60 days after filing it or the date a case involving the child (such as a case to establish child support) begins. After 60 days or such a proceeding but within one year, either person who acknowledged paternity or the child, or the Department of Human Services if it has custody of the child, can challenge the acknowledgment on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. A petition to reopen paternity can be filed by a child’s legal parent within two years of the establishment of paternity via acknowledgment of paternity or establishment of paternity by a default order or judgment. A petition can be filed by the legal parent at any time if the legal father is the presumed father.
In a case to disestablish paternity, the court must find that blood tests were administered within 90 days of the filing of the case; that the legal father is not the biological father; the legal father has not adopted the child; the child was not conceived by artificial insemination during the marriage mother and legal father; the petitioner has not tried to prevent the biological father from asserting parental rights; and the petitioner has not attempted to affirm the legal father’s parentage of the child nor avoided proceedings to establish paternity. In addition, the court must conclude that granting a judgment of nonpaternity would not unduly harm the child. Other requirements also apply, depending on the facts of the case.
Ending paternity ends future child support obligations; it also eliminates any debt for unpaid support. It does not, however, make possible a refund of child support payments already made.
This information is from the Oregon State Bar's Tel-law service, a collection of recorded legal information messages prepared by the lawyers of Oregon. In addition to being online, the Tel-law service is accessible by telephone at 503-620-3000 or toll-free in Oregon only, 1-800-452-4776. A touch tone phone allows direct access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To receive a free Tel-law brochure listing the subjects available call 503-620-0222, ext. 0.