How is paternity (parentage) established?

Parentage (paternity) of a child is determined either because the mother and father are married or because a court decrees (finds) that the mother and father are the child’s parents. In Kansas, a court determines that a mother and father are the child’s parents under a set of laws called the “Kansas Parentage Act.”

The Kansas Parentage Act provides that the parent and child relationship may be established:

1. Between the mother and the child by proof that the woman gave birth to the child.

2. Between a father and the child by the father signing a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity under the requirements of Kansas  law (unless that acknowledgement is withdrawn within a certain time).

3. Between a mother or father and the child by proof of adoption.

4. Between a mother or father under other provisions of the Kansas Parentage Act, including that:

(4.1) The man and the child’s mother are married to each other and the child was born during the marriage;

(4.2) The man and the child’s mother were married to each other and the child was born during the marriage;

(4.3) The man and the child’s mother were married to each other and the child was born within 300 days after one of them died.

(4.4) The man and the child’s mother were married to each other and the child was born within 300 days after the marriage terminated by the filing of a decree of annulment or divorce.

(4.5) Before the child’s birth, the man and the child’s mother attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, and although the attempted marriage is “void,” the child was born within 300 days after the parties terminated their cohabitation.

(4.6) Before the child’s birth, the man and the child’s mother attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with the law, and although the attempted marriage is “voidable,” the child was born within 300 days after the marriage terminated by the death of either the man or the child’s mother or by the filing of a decree of divorce or annulment.

(4.7) Genetic test results indicate a probability of 97% or greater that the man is the father of the child.

(4.8) The man has a duty to support the child under an order of support regardless of whether the man was ever married to the child’s mother.

If two or more of these presumptions exist and provide conflicting presumptions about which of two (or more) men may be the child’s father, the law directs that the court is to use the presumption “founded on the weightier considerations of policy and logic, including the best interests of the child.”

Where two (or more) men are alleged to be the child’s father, the case may become very complex. In these situations, it is critical that the alleged parents retain an attorney to protect their rights and to advise about the correct course of action.