Parentage

A parentage lawsuit is an original petition to establish the child’s legal relationship with a biological parent and to establish a court order including but not limited to custody, visitation, medical, and child support for the child. Please be advised in certain circumstances, the court may allow the biological mother to be reimbursed for prenatal and postnatal expenses related to the child’s birth.

The statute provides the following people to file a parentage case:

  1. The child;
  2. The mother of the child;
  3. The man whose paternity of the child is to be adjudicated;
  4. A relative of the child’s mother, within the 2nd degree of consanguinity, if the mother is deceased;
  5. Any government agency, including the support enforcement agency, authorized by law;
  6. An authorized adoption agency or licensed child-placing agency;
  7. A representative authorized by law to act for an individual who would otherwise be entitled to maintain a proceeding but who is deceased is incapacitated or is a minor; or
  8. A person who is an intended parent.