Challenging paternity: how and when it is possible

The Family Code of Ukraine establishes that if citizens are in an officially registered marriage with each other, then the child conceived and born in such a marriage comes from the spouses. Therefore, in this situation, there are no problems regarding the establishment of paternity.

However, in practice, there are cases when a man has a number of sufficient reasons to believe that the born child does not come from him, and therefore he is not her biological father.

In the presence of such circumstances, paternity must be challenged. Experts from the "Prikhodko and Partners" law office tell how and when it is possible to do this.

Disputing paternity: concepts and features

Contesting paternity — this is a legal procedure during which a citizen registered as the child's father can challenge this legal fact and exclude his personal data from the child's birth certificate.

That is, if a person has good reasons or evidence indicating that he is not the child's father, then he has the right to initiate the paternity dispute procedure.

It is worth noting that in order to dispute paternity, you need to contact the judicial authorities.

The subject of the appeal will be the man who is registered as the father of the child in accordance with the procedure established by the Family Code of Ukraine. Yes, it can be both a person who entered into an official marriage with the child's mother, and a citizen who voluntarily acknowledged his paternity.

In addition, a person has the right to challenge his paternity in the presence of one of the following mandatory conditions, namely:

• if the child was born in a marriage between citizens;
• if the child was conceived at a time when the citizens were not in an officially registered marriage with each other, however, when registering the birth of such a child, the man voluntarily recognized his paternity;
• if the child was born before the expiration of 10 months from the moment of termination of marital relations between the married couple or when such a marriage was declared invalid, but already after the registration of the remarriage of its mother with another person;
• if the husband has reason to believe that the child does not come from him;
• if the child's paternity was established due to a mistake or deception on the part of the child's mother.

Pay attention! A person does not have the right to dispute his paternity if, at the time of registering himself as the father of a child, he reliably knew that he was not the biological father of this child or when he consented to the use of assisted reproductive technologies (systemic infertility treatment).

If a person plans to challenge paternity through the judicial authorities, then he must file an appropriate lawsuit in the court at the defendant's place of residence. The claim should be accompanied by a package of documents that adequately substantiate the claimant's position on the case.

To establish a reliable fact whether the plaintiff is really the father of the child, the court may order a genetic examination (DNA test). This evidence is the most important among the rest of the list, because it can indicate with a probability of 99.99% whether the person is really the father of the child.

If the lawsuit is satisfied by the judicial authority, the court may remove the relevant information about the person named as the father from the child's birth certificate.

What are the legal consequences of contesting paternity?

The main legal consequence of the implementation of the paternity dispute procedure is that the person completely loses his legal relationship with the child. In essence, this means that the citizen is no longer obliged to fulfill his parental duties to properly support the child (for example, pay alimony payments), participate in his upbringing and full development, ensure that the child receives an appropriate level of education, etc.

In addition, disputing paternity also deprives the child of the right to inherit any movable or immovable property after the person's death.

Conclusions

Thus, the appeal of parentage is a serious step that has legal and psychological consequences for both sides of the case. Therefore, if you need help in solving this legal issue, be sure to contact the Prikhodko and Partners law office. Our team includes only professional lawyers who are well versed in paternity disputes, as they have many years of practical experience in the field of Ukrainian family law. In addition, by contacting us, you will definitely receive:

• a detailed analysis of your situation that arose in practice and the development of an individual protection strategy;
• oral and written legal consultations with answers to all questions on the case;
• drawing up the necessary package of documents for submitting them to judicial authorities;
• full legal support to obtain the desired result in the case.

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