How is filiation established when a man has not registered with a putative father registry?

A prior court adjudication of paternity under state law other than the Uniform Parentage Act satisfies the parent-child relationship requirement and exempts the father from registration. Consistent payment of support and exercise of visitation further confirm the functional relationship recognized by the court.

Does a gestational carrier have standing to adjudicate parentage?

Yes. The woman who gave birth is expressly authorized to commence a parentage action unless a court has already adjudicated her nonparent status. Contract labels and hospital paperwork do not constitute such an adjudication.

What standard of proof applies in civil filiation proceedings?

Preponderance of the evidence is constitutionally sufficient. States may permit paternity to be established by this standard without violating due process.

Can community reputation evidence prove filiation?

Yes. Reputation among family or in the community concerning ancestry, legitimacy, or birth is admissible under the hearsay exception for personal or family history when the declarant is unavailable.

Legal Dictionary

filiation

/fil-ee-AY-shuhn/n.

Also known as: filiations · filial · filiality · filius · filia · filiusfamilias · filiolus · filious · paternity · maternity · parentage

Written by attorneys — see sources below.

The legal relationship of a child to a parent. This relationship determines rights to notice in adoption proceedings, inheritance eligibility, and support obligations once established by adjudication, genetic evidence, or conduct manifesting parental responsibility.

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How its tested

Common Examples

Unmarried Father Seeks Adoption Notice

Francois Fortier obtained a court order declaring him the legal father of a newborn based on genetic testing and the mother's stipulation. He paid support and visited regularly for two years. When the mother later sought to place the child for adoption, Francois petitioned for notice of the proceeding. The court granted his request because the prior adjudication had already established the parent-child relationship under state law independent of any registry requirement.

Surrogacy Parentage Determination

Faye Fuller served as gestational carrier for Fernando Farrell and his spouse under a written agreement. After the child's birth, Faye filed to adjudicate parentage. The court applied the Uniform Probate Code provision directing that parentage in assisted reproduction cases be resolved under the Uniform Parentage Act, confirming Fernando and his spouse as the legal parents while recognizing Faye's standing to initiate the action.

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Key Cases Using This Term

Roe v. Wade

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Inheritance Rights of Nonmarital Child

Fusion Power's founder died intestate. His nonmarital son, represented by Felicia Fuentes, offered DNA evidence to prove filiation. The court denied the claim because state law required a lifetime paternity adjudication. The statute's lifetime requirement was upheld as substantially related to the state's interest in orderly estate administration.

Trimble v. Gordon430 U.S. 762, 775 n.16 (1977)

Deta Mona Trimble is the illegitimate daughter of Jessie Trimble and Sherman Gordon. Trimble and Gordon lived together in Chicago with Deta Mona from 1970 until Gordon died in 1974 as the victim of a homicide. On January 2, 1973, the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, entered a paternity order finding Gordon to be the father of Deta Mona and ordering him to pay fifteen dollars per week for her support. Gordon thereafter supported Deta Mona in accordance with the paternity order and openly acknowledged her as his child. Gordon died intestate at the age of twenty-eight, leaving an estate consisting only of a 1974 Plymouth automobile worth approximately twenty-five hundred dollars. Shortly after Gordon's death, Trimble, as the mother and next friend of Deta Mona, filed a petition for letters of administration, determination of heirship, and declaratory relief in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. That court entered an order determining heirship, identifying as the only heirs of Gordon his father Joseph Gordon, his mother Ethel King, and his brother, two sisters, and a half brother. The Circuit Court excluded Deta Mona on the authority of section twelve of the Illinois Probate Act. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Circuit Court on the authority of its earlier decision in In re Estate of Karas. The United States Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction to consider the arguments that section twelve violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by invidiously discriminating on the basis of illegitimacy and sex.

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filiation

Common Examples

Unmarried Father Seeks Adoption Notice

Surrogacy Parentage Determination

Key Cases Using This Term

Roe v. Wade

Test Yourself

Practice Questions5

Cases

Uniform Acts

Common Law

Restatements

Standing Challenge in Parentage Suit

Filiation and Privacy Interests

Gender-Based Filiation Presumptions

Inheritance Rights of Nonmarital Child

Students Frequently Ask...

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

Trimble v. Gordon

Eisenstadt v. Baird

Giles v. California

Practice Essays5