Establishing Paternity of a Child Born During Marriage in Michigan

If your child was born during your marriage, but was not fathered by your husband, you may wonder how to resolve the issue of your child's paternity. And if you are the biological father of a child born while the mother was married to another man, you may wonder how to establish your paternity. Here are the basics of the law in Michigan.

When a child is born, the parents' names are placed on the birth certificate. If the mother is married, the husband's name is listed as the child's father. For many years, the husband was presumed to be the legal father, regardless of whether he was the biological father or not. Michigan's divorce statute states that the "legitimacy of all children begotten before the commencement of any action under this act shall be presumed until the contrary be shown." This means that any children born to a married couple are presumed to be legitimate children of that married couple.

A child born during a marriage will also be considered an heir to both spouses. The Michigan Vital Records Act states that the name of the husband at the time the child was conceived, or at the time the child is born is registered as the child’s father on the birth record. The presumption even reaches out to include the child conceived by assisted reproductive technology, if the husband has consented to its use. All of these laws support the presumption that a husband is the father of any child born during a mrriage. 

This legal presumption may become a disputed issue if the husband and wife divorce, and the husband does not believe he is the father of the child and wants to avoid the support obligations that come with parentage. In that case, the husband may dispute paternity--but if he has been parenting the child for years, he is unlikely to escape the obligation to support the child after the divorce. 

Sometimes, a man finds out he is not the biological father of a child born to his wife, but wishes to continue his relationship with that child after a divorce. Michigan case law provides for the equitable parent doctrine. This means that the father may continue his relationship with the child after divorce if the parents and the child all agree, or if:

• The husband and the child acknowledge a father/child relationship, or the mother of the child has cooperated in the development of such a relationship prior to filing the divorce complaint;
• The husband wants to have the rights afforded to a parent; and
• The husband wishes to take on the responsibility of paying child support.

If paternity isn't contested, then the child is considered a product of the marital union regardless of actual parentage.

An acknowledgment of paternity based on an affidavit of parentage is one method to securing paternal rights as a biological father. However, if there is a mistake and the man signing the affidavit is not, in fact, the biological father, there is little the actual biological father can do. A biological father does not have standing in this situation, and he cannot ask for a revocation of an affidavit of parentage. The man who signed the affidavit is the child’s legal father, and a child may have only one legal father at a time. However, if the child’s mother is interested in contesting the established paternity, she may initiate a parentage action in order to establish her child’s paternity accurately.