New Mexico Paternity Petition

U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. - Paternity Laws and Procedures Handbook

A general guide to the laws and procedures related to paternity establishment. With links to web-based paternity statutes and resources for New Mexico.

©2004 U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. All rights reserved.

This Guide was developed by U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. (USLF), is protected by copyright, and may not be reprinted, distributed or displayed by any means without the express written consent of USLF.

I. INTRODUCTION

Throughout the United States, the law holds that children born out of wedlock need support from both their father and their mother. Generally, the initial burden of child support rests upon the mother. A father may or may not take responsibility for his child. If a father chooses not to acknowledge paternity, the mother, and in some cases the state, must initiate a court proceeding to compel the father to acknowledge paternity and pay child support. This court proceeding is variously known as a “filiation,” “paternity,” or “parentage” proceeding.

Many putative fathers have a relationship with the unmarried mother during her pregnancy and at the time of birth, creating an emotional bond with the child and instilling in the father a sense of responsibility. The ideal time to establish the paternity of the child is during this time frame. Research shows that a state has a significant interest in ensuring that genuine claims for child support are satisfied, in reducing the number of individuals forced to enter welfare rolls, and in establishing a father-child relationship. States enact paternity statutes with these interests in mind.

The father has a legal obligation to help pay the cost of raising a child. When a child's paternity is established, he/she becomes eligible for the father's health insurance, the dependent's portion of Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits, life insurance and other benefits if the legal father becomes disabled or dies. Government agencies can often help locate the man you name as the father and collect the child support payments from him.

II. DEFINITIONS

Biological Father
The man who fathers a child by impregnating the mother. The biological father is not a legal father unless paternity is established or presumed by law.

Genetic Testing
A scientific method for determining paternity involving the taking of samples (usually blood samples) from a mother, child and putative father, then comparing the results. These tests are sometimes referred to as DNA tests because the information in the samples compares the DNA, or basic chemical codes, found in each person’s body.

Legal Father
A biological father who has been legally established to be a child’s father and who then is entitled to the rights and responsibilities of parenthood under the law.

Paternity
Paternity means being the legal father. If a woman is married when a child is born, the husband is presumed to be the father. However, if parents are unmarried, the child does not have a legal father until paternity is established.

Presumed father
A person who the law assumes is the father of a child because he was married to the mother during pregnancy or when the child was born.

Putative Father
A person claimed to be a biological father. When paternity is legally established, a putative father becomes the legal father.

III. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Paternity?
Paternity means being declared the legal father after the child is born. If the parents of a child were not married when the mother became pregnant or when the child was born, the child does not have a legal father until paternity is established.

Why is it important to establish paternity?
Establishing paternity is important for both the child and the parents. A child is entitled to the sense of belonging and identity that comes from knowing both parents. Establishing paternity often has an important emotional and psychological benefit for the child. Also, until there is a determination that a biological father is the legal father, the child has no right to receive financial support from the father, to inherit from the father or to obtain insurance, veterans’, social security or other benefits through the father. Likewise, until paternity is legally established, the biological father has no legal rights to the child, such as parenting time (also called access; formerly called visitation) with the child, and no legal right to participate in major decisions about the child, such as medical treatment, education or religious training.

What is voluntary paternity establishment?
People may believe that paternity can only be legally established by filing a case in court and having a judge decide the issue after testing is done or other proof is submitted. However, if both parents agree who the biological father is, legal paternity often can be established by a simple process that doesn’t require a court hearing. This is called voluntary paternity establishment.

How is paternity established?
Paternity is established either voluntarily or by judicial/administrative process.

How can I establish paternity voluntarily through the court?

- An affidavit in which both parents agree that the named father (also known as the “putative father”) is the biological father of the child, or

- An agreement that the mother, the putative father and the child will take a genetic test (usually a blood test) and have legal paternity decided by the test results, or

- A birth certificate signed by both parents.

- Paternity can be established by default if the alleged father is notified of a paternity hearing but does not appear.

IV. PATERNITY LAWS

Most states either use or draw heavily from the Uniform Parentage Act, a uniform set of laws developed by legal experts in the field of paternity law. Though there is important variation among the various states’ paternity laws, in general, state law recognize similar duties, rights and procedures. A summary follows below.

When a woman becomes pregnant, the man, with whom she has engaged in sexual intercourse at the approximate time of conception, has an obligation to recognize that he may be the father. A presumption of paternity occurs if the child is born in wedlock, and paternity may be established if the parents marry after the birth of the child.

The father can acknowledge paternity by signing a contract with the mother. Admission of paternity is sufficient consideration for the contract.

V. VOLUNTARY ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY

Many states require the healthcare facility where the baby is born to furnish voluntary acknowledgement of paternity forms. Usually, the healthcare facilities must fully explain the form to the parents before allowing the parents to complete the form. Generally, the form should be completed prior to discharge.

Child Name

Birth Facility

Birth Date

Affidavit / Acknowledgment Statement

Options

Voluntary acknowledgment signed

Genetic testing requested

Birth certificate signed by both parents

VI. UNDOING A PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT

If a father has signed a paternity acknowledgment, and then begins to doubt whether he is really the father, quick action may be able to reverse the legal situation.

Reason for Challenge

VII. COURT ACTION - LEGAL ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY

In order to bring a paternity action against a putative father, most states require that the mother file a petition or a complaint with the appropriate administrative or judicial authority.

Court / Venue

Hearing Details

Genetic Test Order

Test Result Summary

VIII. CHILD CUSTODY, VISITATION & SUPPORT

Child custody and visitation issues are typically decided in the same court action. In cases where paternity is acknowledged voluntarily, support issues, as well as custody and visitation issues, are not resolved by the voluntary acknowledgement.

Custody / Visitation Arrangement

IX. STATE PATERNITY LAW SUMMARY AND LINKS

Link to USLF New Mexico Paternity Law Summary and related forms are referenced in the handbook.

State

Law Summary Notes

X. CONCLUSION

Though state paternity laws are steadily becoming more uniform, there remain significant differences in the laws and procedures in many states. This Handbook should only be used as a guide to inform oneself about the issues and processes involved in a situation where paternity is at issue.