Washington paternity

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Child Custody Child Support. Alimony Divorce and Property. Market Your Law Firm. Lawyer Directory. Call us at 1 Paternity in Washington. Learn how you establish paternity and why it's beneficial for your child in Washington. Overview of Paternity in Washington "Paternity" means fatherhood. Establishing Paternity in Washington In Washington, paternity can be established either "voluntarily" by signing a "Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity" form or "involuntarily" through a court order.

Acknowledging Paternity When the mother and father are both sure that the father is in fact the biological father of the child, paternity can be established voluntarily. Petition to Establish Parentage Involuntary establishment of paternity is done through a court proceeding where the court issues an "order establishing parentage.

Benefits of Establishing Paternity Establishing paternity means more than just having a father named on the child's birth certificate. Establishing paternity helps children: have a relationship with both parents learn about family history, including medical histories, and access medical insurance and other benefits like life insurance, Social Security, Veterans benefits, and inheritance. Establishing paternity helps mothers to: share the responsibilities of parenthood, and share the costs of raising their child once paternity is established, the mother can seek court ordered child support.

Establishing paternity helps fathers to: gain legal rights to their child like being able to ask a court for custody of or visitation with their child show they care about their child establish a bond with their child, and participate in their child's life. Resources For the full text of the statutes regarding establishment of paternity, see Wash.

Talk to a Lawyer Need a lawyer? Start here. Practice Area Please select Zip Code. The donor of eggs provided to a licensed physician for use in assisted reproduction for the purpose of attempting to achieve a pregnancy in a woman other than the donor is treated in law as if she were not the parent of a child thereafter conceived and born unless the donor and the woman who gives birth to a child as a result of the assisted reproduction agree in writing that the donor is to be a parent.

A woman who gives birth to a child conceived through assisted reproduction under the supervision and with the assistance of a licensed physician is treated in law as if she were the parent of the child unless an agreement in writing signed by an egg donor and the woman giving birth to the child states otherwise.

An agreement pursuant to this section must be in writing and signed by the egg donor and the woman who gives birth to the child and any other intended parent of the child. The agreement, including the affidavit and certification, must be filed with the registrar of vital statistics, where it must be kept confidential and in a sealed file.

The department of health shall, upon request, issue a birth certificate for any child born as a result of an alternative reproductive medical technology procedure indicating the legal parentage of such child as intended by any agreement filed with the registrar of vital statistics pursuant to RCW In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it and to the intent that the act apply to persons of the same sex who have children together to the same extent the act applies to persons of the opposite sex who have children together.

A proceeding to adjudicate parentage which was commenced before June 13, , is governed by the law in effect at the time the proceeding was commenced. Home Information. Find Attorney. For Attorneys. We Help! No Hassles Guarantee. Search: Search. Popular forms. Paternity — General — Washington Note: This summary is not intended to be an all inclusive discussion of the law applicable to an action to establish Paternity in the State of Washington, but does include basic and other provisions.

Statutes: Washington Revised Statutes Chapter The term does not include: a A presumed parent; b A person whose parental rights have been terminated or declared not to exist; or c A donor. The term includes: a Artificial insemination; b Donation of eggs; c Donation of embryos; d In vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos; and e Intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

The term does not include: a A person who provides a gamete or gametes to be used for assisted reproduction with his or her spouse or domestic partner; or b A woman who gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction, except as otherwise provided in RCW The term includes an analysis of one or a combination of the following: a Deoxyribonucleic acid; and b Blood-group antigens, red-cell antigens, human-leukocyte antigens, serum enzymes, serum proteins, or red-cell enzymes.

The applicable law does not depend on: a The place of birth of the child; or b The past or present residence of the child. The superior courts of this state are authorized to adjudicate parentage under this chapter. If a parenting plan or residential schedule was not entered at the time the order establishing parentage was entered, a parent may move the court for entry of a parenting plan or residential schedule: a By filing a motion and proposed parenting plan or residential schedule and providing notice to the other parent and other persons who have residential time with the child pursuant to a court order: PROVIDED, That at the time of filing the motion less than twenty-four months have passed since entry of the order establishing parentage and that the proposed parenting plan or residential schedule does not change the designation of the parent with whom the child spends the majority of time; or b By filing a petition for modification under RCW In all actions brought under this chapter, bills for pregnancy, childbirth, and genetic testing shall: 1 Be admissible as evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony; and 2 Constitute prima facie evidence of amounts incurred for such services or for testing on behalf of the child.

As used in RCW A presumed father of a child may sign a denial of his paternity. The denial is valid only if: 1 An acknowledgment of paternity signed by another man is filed under RCW For good cause shown, the court may order genetic testing of a deceased individual.

The following individuals must be joined as parties in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage: 1 The parent of the child who has established a parent-child relationship with the child; 2 A person whose parentage of the child is to be adjudicated; 3 An intended parent under a surrogate parentage contract, as provided in RCW A proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child having no presumed or adjudicated second parent and no acknowledged father may be commenced at any time during the life of the child, even after: 1 The child becomes an adult; or 2 An earlier proceeding to adjudicate parentage has been dismissed based on the application of a statute of limitation then in effect.

The following actions may be taken before the birth of the child: 1 Service of process; 2 Discovery; 3 Except as prohibited by RCW The admissibility of the report is not affected by whether the testing was performed: a Voluntarily or under an order of the court or a support enforcement agency; or b Before or after the commencement of the proceeding.

This section applies to any proceeding under RCW The court shall apply the following rules to adjudicate the parentage of a child: 1 Except as provided in subsection 5 of this section, the parentage of a child having a presumed or adjudicated parent or an acknowledged father may be disproved only by admissible results of genetic testing excluding that person as the parent of the child or identifying another man as the father of the child.

The court, without a jury, shall adjudicate parentage of a child. The court shall issue an order adjudicating the paternity of a man who: 1 After service of process, is in default; and 2 Is found by the court to be the father of a child. In actions commenced more than two years after the birth of the child, the child must be made a party to the action; and b The court finds that the person did not consent to the assisted reproduction, before or after birth of the child.

This act may be known and cited as the uniform parentage act of For Consumer Information Legal Forms. Services Attorney Assistance. In these cases, it is important to seek out a court order when necessary to overcome the presumption of parenthood.

The state of Washington cannot force a paternity test on you if you refuse one. Potential fathers can refuse DNA testing even if the mother, child, and other possible fathers have already been tested. If the biological mother files a lawsuit to establish paternity, then you may be court ordered to submit DNA.

Refusing a court ordered paternity test can constitute as contempt of court. In Washington, contempt of court can actually lead to jail time and serious fines. To add on, if you fail to respond to the lawsuit the judge may grant a default judgement to the mother. When a lawsuit is given a default judgement it means the plaintiff the biological mother will be automatically given the remedy they originally sought which can include child support.

In , the Washington Legislature changed the laws for establishing paternity. Under the new law, the name of the paternity establishment form has been changed from a Paternity Affidavit to Paternity Acknowledgment.

Either the father or the mother can change their mind within a limited period of time. The legal term for changing your mind is called a rescission. Under Washington's new paternity law, the right to rescind the Paternity Acknowledgement is extended.

A Paternity Acknowledgment signed by a minor is legal. Under Washington law, minors who are under the age of 18 year old who sign the form have the same rights and degree of responsibility as an adult. If the person signing the Paternity Acknowledgement was a minor child when the Paternity Acknowledgment was signed, however, that person has the ability to rescind the acknowledgment on or before that person's 19th birthday.

The new paternity laws in Washington State also extended the challenge period from two 2 years to four 4 years.

After the rescission period ends, the parent can still challenge the acknowledgment in court, but the grounds for recision are more limited. Those reasons can include factual mistake, duress, or fraud. If either the presumed father or the mother wants to file an action to challenge the Paternity Acknowledgment in court, you only have four 4 years from the date it was filed with the DOH to begin that process.

The family law attorneys at Law Offices of Shana E. Thompson represent clients in a wide variety of family law cases in Washington. The different types of cases can include:.

Modifying a Parenting Plan: For a variety of reasons, a parent might want to change a visitation schedule or parenting plan after it is originally decided. When this occurs, the party will file a petition to modify the current parenting plan.

Annulment or Invalidity of a Marriage: I n the state of Washington, the term "annulment" means when a marriage is canceled by means of a legal procedure. The paternity of a child can have a great impact emotionally, financially and otherwise on a child. Establishing paternity provides important benefits to the child , including the right to claim social security, veteran benefits, life insurance, inheritances, and child support.