What if the father has doubts about his paternity?

If a father has doubts about his paternity in New York State, there are a few legal options available to him. The first is to file a Paternity Disestablishment Petition in family court. This would allow the father to ask the court to terminate his legal connection to the child and end his parental rights and responsibilities. The court would then order DNA testing to determine if the father is, in fact, the biological parent of the child. The second option, if the father had questions about paternity before the birth of the child, is for him to file a Paternity Recognition Test. This test would be voluntary and provides both the mother and the father with a formal recognition of paternity prior to the birth of the child. The father would have to sign a document acknowledging the child as his own and both parties would then have to submit genetic testing to the court to prove paternity. In either case, paternity must be established by the court to ensure that the child’s best interests are met. This is done to ensure the child has the right to legal identification, parental rights and responsibilities, access to medical records, entitlement to benefits, and other rights granted by New York State paternity law.

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What if the father has doubts about his paternity?

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