A married man is legally presumed to be the biological father of his wife’s offspring. But there are times that a legal parent objects to paternity or a mother questions the paternity of her partner or asserts the husband is not the biological father. There are times when unmarried partners are uncertain about paternity, a single or divorced mother wants or needs to seek child support, or a man seeks parenting time with a child he believes he fathered. It is under these circumstances that paternity of the child may need to be legally established. Where there is domestic violence there are numerous special issues to be considered.

When a child is born out of wedlock, there are ways to establish paternity. In many states, if there is agreement regarding paternity, both parties can formally acknowledge this. If either party is unwilling to sign such an acknowledgement document, a process can be commenced to legally establish who the father is.