Paternity is a gender biased word that means being a father. In Michigan, Paternity can be established in several ways. Most often, Paternity actions are brought under the Paternity Act, MCLA 722.711, or Child Custody Act and sometimes the Acknowledgment of Parentage Act, MCLA 722.1001. By signing an affidavit of parentage, which gives a child born out of wedlock, or born or conceived during marriage but not an issue of marriage the same status as a legitimate child. Paternity Acknowledgment is the voluntary process of unwed father's being recognized as the alleged biological father. A paternity acknowledgment does not establish legal, court recognized paternity, but may establish custody without due process.
The Plaintiff in a paternity suit has the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence. The mother, father or the Family Independence Agency (FIA) may bring an action. If paternity is not voluntarily established, the party seeking a finding of paternity must file suit in the family division of the circuit court. Venue is in the county where the mother or child or one of them reside or, if they live outside the state, where the putative father resides or is found. The only question for the jury is if the putative father is the father to the child. The plaintiff should establish the time and place, as near as possible, when and where the mother became pregnant, that the mother gave birth on the specified date, and that the child born is a child born out of wedlock, and the man is the father of the child. Under the time-limit provisions of the Paternity Act, a paternity action may be brought while the mother is pregnant or at any time before the child reaches the age of 18. When paternity is established, support is retroactive in only certain circumstances. To establish paternity, the most common ways to do so are: (1) filing a document with the court establishing that you are the father, if this document is not contested by the mother, you could establish paternity; or (2) signing an acknowledgment form. Just because your name appears on the birth certificate, does not automatically establish paternity.
Genetic testing is one of the most valuable and objective means of resolving paternity cases before trial. Testing involves the determination of genetic markers that are present in pairs in the blood and tissue cells of every person. A child inherits one-half of each pair from his or her mother and the other half from his father. If the child has a marker that is not present in the alleged father, someone else is the true father and the alleged father is excluded. (a direct exclusion). If the alleged father has all of the paternally derived genetic markers (those that come from the father), in common with the child, he is included in a class of men who could be the child's father. If this class is very small, the likelihood of paternity is very high. In recent years, DNA testing has become the most powerful and prominent test used in paternity determinations and admissible in paternity trials. If blood or tissue typing tests or DNA profile determination concludes that there is a probability of 99 percent or higher, paternity is presumed. The burden is on the father to rebut the presumption.
Once paternity is established, an Order of Filiation is entered. The Order of Filiation must provide for support of the child, reimbursement of medical expenses incurred in the child's birth, health care insurance coverage when it can be obtained at a reasonable cost, and support for the period before the order was entered. Orders of Filiation are enforced under Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act, MCLA 552.601
An illegitimate child has the right to support from a putative father and this right can not be contracted away by the mother. It is possible to compromise or settle a paternity suit without the putative father acknowledging paternity. The mother and child, or authoritative person to act on their behalf, must have reached an agreement with the putative father concerning the child's support and education, and the court must have determined that adequate provision for the child reasonably secured by payment or otherwise approved the agreement.
