Under Michigan family law, when can the law establish paternity?
The law can automatically establish a man’s paternity under certain circumstances, such as presuming a husband’s paternity when his wife gives birth to a child. Men can also acknowledge paternity for children born out of wedlock, such as by executing an acknowledgment form or agreeing to list their name on the child’s birth certificate. However, what if families mistakenly identify the incorrect man as a child’s father? How can families remedy such a mistake when it occurs?
In Michigan, the Revocation of Paternity Act allows a legal father to relieve himself of paternal obligations by disproving his biological relationship to a child; a mother or another man can also replace a legal father with the child’s biological father. Correcting a child’s paternity requires conclusive evidence. An experienced attorney can help you protect your or your child’s rights and interests during paternity revocation proceedings. Contact Alward Fisher to schedule a consultation to discuss your situation with a Michigan family law attorney.
What is the Definition of Revocation of Paternity?
The Michigan Revocation of Paternity Act (ROPA) allows a court to rescind a man’s legal status as a child’s father. Revocation of paternity absolves a man of any parental responsibility for a child, including the obligation to support the child financially. However, revoking paternity also means that a man loses parental rights to the child, including the right to seek custody or to inherit from the child’s estate under intestacy laws.
The law permits revocation of paternity to remedy situations where a man mistakenly becomes a child’s legal father, allowing for the child’s biological father to establish their paternity. A man may become a child’s legal father by operation of law due to his marriage to the child’s mother since the law presumes the husband’s paternity. A man can become a child’s legal father by signing an acknowledgment of paternity.
Legal Grounds for Revocation of Paternity
A legal father or another interested party, such as a child’s mother or another man asserting parentage, may file a petition to revoke a legal father’s paternity because the man is not the child’s biological father. For example, a husband may petition to revoke his paternity because he is not his wife’s child’s biological father. A legal father or a mother may petition to revoke paternity because they’ve mistakenly identified the legal father as the child’s biological father; a legal father may also seek to revoke his paternity by identifying another man as the biological father. Finally, a man may petition to revoke paternity by claiming that he is the child’s biological father.
What Is the Process for Revocation of Paternity?
Under ROPA, an interested party must file a petition to revoke paternity within three years of the child’s birth or one year after the child’s legal father signed an acknowledgment of paternity, whichever occurs later. However, this deadline does not apply when a husband challenges his paternity in a divorce proceeding. The petition must state the grounds for revoking paternity, including identifying evidence proving that the legal father is not the child’s biological father. The petitioning party must serve the petition on all other interested parties, including the child’s mother and any men alleged or asserting biological parentage.
In most cases, the court will order DNA testing to confirm that a child’s legal father is not the biological father. When another man petitions to revoke paternity by asserting biological parentage, that man may also have to undergo DNA testing to establish his parentage.
The court will schedule a hearing to review the evidence and testimony supporting the petition, including the DNA testing results. However, the court must determine whether revoking a father’s legal paternity will serve the child’s best interests. A court may find it in a child’s best interests to maintain a man’s legal parentage even though DNA testing or other evidence disproves his biological parentage. For example, this may occur when the legal father and child share a robust parent-child bond or when revoking a legal father’s paternity would leave the child without parental care or support.
When the court finds that a legal father is not a child’s biological parent and determines that revoking paternity will serve the child’s best interest, it will issue an order revoking paternity. If the evidence identifies another man as the child’s biological father, the court can also designate that man as the legal father.
Consequences of Revocation of Paternity
When the court revokes a legal father’s paternity, that man no longer has any obligation to support the child. As a result, the court may terminate the man’s child support obligations. However, revoking paternity also means a man loses parental rights to a child, including the right to exercise custody.
Revoking paternity can have other consequences besides the obvious financial and legal ones. Revocation of paternity can have a devastating effect on a family, including causing stress by raising uncertainty regarding the identity of a child’s father. It can also cause emotional strain for a child who has formed a bond with their legal father. Because revocation of paternity typically occurs within the first few years of a child’s life, a young child may not understand why a man they considered their father has suddenly left their life. A young child may experience confusion and fear when told that another man is their father.
Alternatives to Revocation of Paternity
Families may pursue alternatives to revocation of paternity to resolve disputes over parentage and support obligations. For example, a child’s biological father may agree to provide financial support to the child without requiring the child’s mother to pursue revocation of paternity. A child’s mother may also agree to allow the biological father to spend with the child and build a relationship. However, not revoking paternity and establishing correct parentage can limit a family’s rights and options should any informal arrangement fall apart.
Contact Our Michigan Family Law Attorneys for Help
If you seek to revoke someone’s paternity or your child’s mother has petitioned to revoke your paternity, you need an experienced child custody attorney who will advocate for your rights and interests. Contact Alward Fisher today for a confidential consultation with our family law attorneys to learn more about Michigan paternity rights and obtain legal representation for your ROPA case.
