Paternity

Paternity is a word for fatherhood of a child. It can be very important when –

• a man wants to prove that he is, or is not, the father of a particular child
• a father applies to the Family Court for day-to-day care of or contact with a child (a parenting order)
• a mother applies for the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) to help support her and her child
• a child claims the right to inherit property from someone the child believes is their father.
• a mother applies for child support from the father
• a person claims New Zealand citizenship on the basis of their father’s citizenship.

Establishing paternity

There are a number of ways paternity can be established –

1. the law presumes a husband is the father of any child born to his wife while they were married or within 10 months after they were divorced (but this can be disputed in Court)
2. a man named on the child’s birth certificate is presumed to be the father (this can also be disputed in Court)
3. the father can sign an Acknowledgement of Paternity (the mother must also sign it)
4. a Court can make a paternity order or declaration stating that a man is the father of a child.

Presumption that a husband is the father of his wife’s children.

The law assumes a man is a child’s father –

• if the man was married to the child’s mother when the child was born, or
• if the child was born within 10 months after the marriage ended (either because the Court dissolved it or because the husband or wife died).

This presumption doesn’t apply to civil unions and de facto couples. In those cases, paternity has to be established in one of the ways explained below.

The child’s birth certificate.

If the father wasn’t married to the mother, the birth certificate can be used to establish paternity. The man named on a child’s birth certificate is presumed to be the child’s father. But this can be disputed in Court.

A man can be named as the father of a child either by –

• signing the birth registration form with the mother (this is then given to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages)
• giving written permission, also signed by the mother, to put his name on the birth certificate, or
• signing the birth registration form on his own because the mother was unable to sign (which might be because, for example, she was dead, or missing, or unable to act because of a medical condition).

Acknowledgement of paternity

A man can acknowledge paternity of a child in a written document called a Deed of Acknowledgement of Paternity. This is signed by him and the mother, and signed and witnessed by a lawyer.

Getting a paternity order or declaration from the Courts

If there’s a dispute about the paternity of a child, the mother can apply to the Family Court to resolve it by making a paternity order against a man who denies being the child’s father. This may be necessary to establish that she’s entitled to child support or the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB).

A man can also ask the Court to declare that he is or is not the father of a child. In some cases other people too can apply to the Family Court for a paternity order.

The High Court can also resolve paternity disputes by declaring that a man is or is not a child’s father.

Often the Court will recommend DNA tests. These involve either blood samples or mouth swab samples from the man, the mother and the child. The man can refuse to take the test, but the Court can take his refusal into account in making its decision.

Establishing paternity for the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB)

Women applying for the DPB often need to bring paternity proceedings to show they’re taking steps to name the father. If they don’t do this or refuse to name the father, their benefit will be reduced. In some cases though it won’t be refused – for example, if the woman doesn’t know who the father is, or if the father could be violent towards her if she names him.