paternity

n., pl., -ties.

1. The state of being a father; fatherhood.
2. Descent on a father's side; paternal descent.
3. Authorship; origin.

adj.
of or relating to a lawsuit brought by a woman attempting to establish that a particular man is the father of her child and so must provide the child with financial support: paternity case; paternity suit.

[Middle English paternite, from Old French, from Late Latin paternitās, from Latin paternus, paternal. See paternal.]

Paternity, the state of being a father, can be legally established in several ways. When the parents of a child are married, paternity is commonly presumed. However, to determine whether a man is the father of a child born out of wedlock, a lawsuit known as a "paternity action" must be brought. In such a suit, paternity may be established if the alleged father admits paternity. If a man fails to participate in the process, then paternity may be fixed by default, or a judge may order that he provide a blood sample to compare blood types and, if necessary, DNA types with that of the mother and child.

Blood-group studies, which commonly employ the ABO system, cannot establish paternity but can conclusively exclude an alleged father from being a candidate. This is the case because a child must inherit his or her blood type (A, B, or O) from the mother or father; thus, if the child's blood type differs from both the mother's and the alleged father's types, the man could not possibly be a parent of the child. To conclusively establish paternity, DNA typing is required. Adequate samples for DNA typing can be collected from blood, semen, or body tissue such as the inside of the cheek. DNA typing compares strands of genetic material between the child and alleged father. While most courts in the United States require accuracy of 99 percent to establish paternity, comparing strands from various locations of the genetic material allows accuracy ratings of 99.9 percent. DNA typing allows an alleged father to be excluded with 100 percent certainty.

Upon the conclusion of a paternity action, the judge's order establishes paternity. Once paternity is determined, the court can consider the issues of custody, visitation, and child support. Paternity actions are also brought in cases involving family inheritances, insurance benefits, social security claims, immigration requests, and to establish the peace of mind associated with being able to determine whether the child may be at risk for any hereditary disease.

(SEE ALSO: Child Welfare; Public Health and the Law)

— JOHN R. YORK; JEFFREY A. LINSKER

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Unless it can be shown that a man was unable to have conjugal relations with his wife for a period of 12 months (if he was in a distant land, for example), all children born to his wife are regarded as his, because "most acts of conjugal relations are with the husband." A husband may disclaim paternity with regard to a child born to his wife provided that he never expressed paternal feelings toward the child. If, however, the child should have his own child, he may no longer do so. In order to avoid any question regarding paternity, a divorced woman or widow must wait three months after her divorce or her husband's death before remarrying.

If a woman has a child out of wedlock, even if she was known to be living with a certain man, should he deny paternity he has no obligation to the child. On the other hand, if a man claims that a child born out of wedlock is his, the child is considered his heir.

In general, every effort is made not to have a child declared a Mamzer---a child born of an incestuous or adulterous relationship. For this reason, batté din in Israel are specifically forbidden to use DNA testing when a man declares that he is not the father of a child born to his wife.

While it is the mother whose Jewishness determines the Jewishness of her child, it is the Jewish father whose ancestry determines whether the child is a kohen (priest), a Levite, or an Israelite. The son of a kohen, however, is only a kohen if the marriage is a permitted one. Thus, if a kohen marries a non-Jewish woman (which in any event is not considered marriage in Jewish law) or a divorcee or convert, or has a son in an incestuous relationship, the son is not a kohen. See also Patrilineal Descent Controversy.

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The state or condition of a father; the relationship of a father.

English and U.S. common law have recognized the importance of establishing the paternity of children. In the United States, a child born outside of a legal marriage relationship will lose child support and inheritance rights if the fatherhood of the child is not legally established. The father may voluntarily acknowledge paternity in a legal document filed with a court or by agreeing to have his name listed as the father on the child's birth certificate. If the man disputes fatherhood, the mother or the state government may initiate a legal proceeding, known as a paternity action, to adjudicate fatherhood.

The common law also established the "marital paternity presumption," which holds that a child born during a marriage is the offspring of the husband. Therefore, a child born as a result of the wife's adulterous affair is recognized as a legitimate child of the marriage. This rule recognized that illegitimacy brought severe economic penalties to a child, including the inability to inherit from the husband, as well as social stigma. By establishing a presumption of paternity and therefore legitimacy, the rule promoted family stability and integrity.

This rule was developed at a time when no medical tests existed to prove paternity. In addition, a husband could not testify that he had no access to his wife at the time of conception. A husband could rebut the marital presumption only by proving his impotence or his absence from the country.

By the late nineteenth century, U.S. courts began to allow the defense of impossibility to rebut the marital presumption. The question of paternity became a fact that could be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the procreation by the husband was impossible.

In 1973 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws proposed the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA), which sought to establish a consistent rule on adjudicating paternity disputes. The UPA, which has been adopted by eighteen states, continued to use the marital paternity presumption. In addition, it presumes a mother's husband to be the natural father of a child if the child is born during the marriage or within three hundred days after the marriage is terminated. The UPA does state, however, that a presumption of paternity may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence.

Modern science has made the adjudication of paternity issues easier. Modern blood and genetic testing can accurately determine paternity. Human leukocyte antigen tissue typing can provide up to a 98 percent probability that a man was the father of a child. The use of DNA testing provides near-positive paternity identification. Four states that have adopted the UPA have created a presumption of paternity based solely on genetic testing. Some courts have questioned the need for the marital presumption at all because of the certainty produced by testing.

See: DNA Evidence; Family Law; Paternity Suit.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - faderskab, paternitet
adj. - faderskabs-

idioms:

• paternity leave    orlov til fædre
• paternity suit    faderskabssag
• paternity test    faderskabsprøve

Nederlands (Dutch)
vaderschap, auteurschap

Français (French)
n. - paternité
adj. - de paternité

idioms:

• paternity leave    congé de paternité
• paternity suit    recherche de paternité
• paternity test    test de paternité

Deutsch (German)
n. - Vaterschaft
adj. - Vaterschaft...

idioms:

• paternity leave    Vaterschaftsurlaub
• paternity suit    Vaterschaftsklage
• paternity test    Vaterschaftsuntersuchung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πατρότητα

idioms:

• paternity leave    γονική άδεια
• paternity suit    αγωγή για την πατρότητα νόθου
• paternity test    τεστ πατρότητας

Italiano (Italian)
paternità

idioms:

• paternity leave    congedo di paternità
• paternity suit    processo di paternità
• paternity test    esame di paternità

Português (Portuguese)
n. - paternidade (f), autoria (f)

idioms:

• paternity leave    licença paternidade
• paternity suit    processo para provar paternidade
• paternity test    teste de paternidade

Русский (Russian)
отцовство

idioms:

• paternity leave    отпуск отца по уходу за ребенком
• paternity suit    процесс по установлению отцовства
• paternity test    тест на установление отцовства

Español (Spanish)
n. - paternidad, ascendencia o filiación paterna, linaje , origen
adj. - ascendencia o filiación paterna, relativo a la paternidad

idioms:

• paternity leave    baja por paternidad
• paternity suit    litigio de paternidad
• paternity test    prueba de paternidad

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - faderskap

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
父道, 父子关系, 父权, 父子关系的

idioms:

• paternity leave    父亲的陪产假
• paternity suit    确认生父的诉讼
• paternity test    亲权试验, 亲生子鉴定

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 父道, 父子關係, 父權
adj. - 父子關係的

idioms:

• paternity leave    父親的陪產假
• paternity suit    確認生父的訴訟
• paternity test    親權試驗, 親生子鑒定

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 아버지임, 부권, (일반적으로 생각 등의) 기원
adj. - 부권의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 父であること, 父性, 父系, 起源

idioms:

• paternity leave    父親の育児休暇
• paternity suit    父の決定の手続き
• paternity test    実父確定検査

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أبوة, أصل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אבהות, מקור‬
adj. - ‮נוגע לסיכסוך משםטי בו מאשימה אם לא-נשואה גבר באבהות על בנה‬

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