The parent of a child
born of an unmarried couple can file a case in the Family Court
to establish paternity of a child.
A paternity case is only necessary if the
parents cannot agree on paternity. If the parents agree
on paternity, they can simply fill out an acknowledgment of
parentage in the Probate Court office and send it to Lansing to
add the father to the birth certificate. If the mother is
married, the law presumes that her husband is the father of the
child born during the marriage. Only a court order can
change that result.
Usually in a disputed case, the parties
will arrange genetic testing which can determine paternity to a
reasonably certainty. The Court can order that testing as
well as determining paternity and assisting with the
determination of custody, parenting time and child support
issues.
Back to Courts
Paternity