How to determine paternity without DNA in 2021

Children are often born outside of an official marriage, and the question arises of how the relationship between such a child and his father can be formalized. In such cases, establishing paternity is the only option in which an official connection appears between them.

Sometimes recognition of paternity is a pure formality, in other cases it may be necessary to determine paternity through genetic testing so that the father is convinced that the child is really his, and it even happens that establishing the fact of paternity is necessary for the father himself in order to assert his rights. All these cases and how to prove paternity in each of them will be discussed further.

General information

The relationship between a child's parents can be complex, so paternity recognition is often required. For example, if he was not born in wedlock, then a man can either recognize him as his own or not. But even if the parents are officially married and the woman registered the child with her husband, there is a possibility that the husband will challenge this fact.

According to the law, recognition (or denial) of paternity is carried out in two ways:

voluntarily (at the registry office, etc.);
through the court.

The baby's parents can go to court to find out whether the man is his father. But courts usually use a DNA test, which makes it almost guaranteed to confirm or refute the fact of relationship. Of course, you can do without a genetic examination in court, but if it is ordered, you cannot refuse it.

In general, determining paternity is necessary not only so that a man can undoubtedly consider the child his own. According to the law, with the birth of a newborn, parental rights arise. And this means that you need to support and raise the child.

Even if the parents are not married, the father is obliged to provide financial assistance. The child's mother has the right to collect child support from him. This is why various methods of determining paternity are most often used.

Legislation

According to Art. 162 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, regulation of family issues, in particular, establishing and challenging paternity and maternity is determined by the legislation of the state whose citizenship the child acquires at birth. Therefore, regulating the issues of establishing the paternity of a child born to a Russian woman, even if his father is a foreigner, lies within the competence of Russian legislation.

In the current Russian Investigative Committee, Chapter 1 is devoted to the issues of the origin of a child. It explains the following questions:

the emergence of rights and responsibilities of parents and children;
clarifying the origin of the child (including through the court);
establishment by the court of the fact of recognition of paternity;
records of persons as parents;
legal capacity of parents who are not married to each other, and so on.

The family law of the child's country of nationality also regulates other important issues, such as parental rights and responsibilities. As for the issues of establishing the origin of a child and related formal procedures, they are reflected in Art. Art. 48-51 RF IC.

Issues of a procedural nature are clarified in more detail in the Federal Law of November 15, 1997 No. 143 “On Acts of Civil Status”. In particular, Chapter VI of this law introduces the grounds for identifying the father of a child, the obligation of state registration of this fact, the specifics of the procedure, cases of refusal of registration, the procedure for processing documents, and so on.

How to determine paternity without DNA

You can find out the necessary information without a DNA paternity test. Alternative methods are used if there is no money or opportunity to get tested. Since this examination is quite expensive.

Determination by appearance

It is difficult to say how similar the appearance of a child and his parent may be. Of course, the color of skin, eyes or hair may be similar. But, firstly, these signs can change. Secondly, the child may be similar to other relatives.

Therefore, prospective fathers very rarely use physical appearance as a 100% method of recognizing paternity. An exception may be cases when a son or daughter receives from a parent a specific sign of appearance - a mole, a dimple on the chin, etc. If the comparison takes place after the death of the father, then the similarity can be clarified using a photo.

By date of conception (pregnancy)

This is another “folk” method that is often used to determine paternity. In order to determine who the father of the child is, you need to know the date of conception.

True, this method is not particularly accurate. Conception does not always occur immediately after intercourse, since sperm can live in the female body for up to 5 days. You can also use gestational age. To do this, you need to do an ultrasound, which will determine the expected date of conception.

By blood type

Determining relationship by blood type is great for those parents who cannot or do not want to do a DNA test. Although it also does not give a 100% result. By the way, this method can only be used after the birth of the child.

The principle of this method is that the blood type depends on the set of genes. Therefore, there is a possibility that parents with specific blood types may produce an infant with only a certain type. Scientists have even developed special tables that make it very easy to establish possible relationships.

And if the child’s blood type does not match the blood groups of his parents, their relationship (in particular, paternity) may be in question.

Another alternative option is to check the Rh factor. But when using it, it is important to consider the following:

Rh-positive parents may have a baby with Rh-negative blood type;
If both parents are carriers of the Rh-negative blood group, then the child cannot be Rh-positive.

Blood type testing is considered very popular. This method was used quite successfully before the advent of DNA testing.

Genetic diseases

The presence of a genetic disease in a child can be used as an indirect confirmation of paternity. Such diseases are mutations in the gene. And if the father or his closest relatives have a predisposition to such a disease, then the relationship can be established.

Judicial procedure for establishing the origin of a child

Along with voluntary, there is also a judicial procedure for recognizing a man as a father. Establishment by the court of the fact of recognition of paternity, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 48 and art. 49 of the RF IC, is carried out in cases where:

there is no mutual consent of the father and mother of the child to establish the origin, that is, when the mother or actual father is against it;
there is no permission from the guardianship authority to solely establish the origin of the father;
Other interested parties (for example, a guardian) want to establish the origin of the child from a specific man.

The judicial procedure presupposes the mandatory filing of a statement of claim in a court of general jurisdiction at the place of residence of the plaintiff or defendant, at the choice of the applicant.

This process is carried out within the framework of litigation with the mandatory involvement of the parties, the study of all evidence provided by the parties, and, if necessary, the appointment and conduct of special biological examinations. Based on the results of the consideration, a decision is made by which the court recognizes the man as the father or refuses such recognition.

Who files the claim

Depending on the specific circumstances, the judicial review procedure by filing a claim can be initiated:

the mother of a newborn, if the man refuses to acknowledge his relationship with him;
father, if his mother opposes recognition of paternity;
by the father, if the mother died / was declared incompetent / disappeared without a trace, and the guardianship authority does not give permission to apply individually to the registry office;
guardian, trustee or dependent person of the child;
by the child himself, if he has reached the age of majority.

This category of cases has no statute of limitations, so any of these persons can file a claim at any time after the birth of the child.

Required documents and state fees

The main document that must be submitted to the court by the plaintiff is the statement of claim. It should reflect the following information:

name of the court to which the application is filed;
personal data of the plaintiff and defendant;
circumstances referred to by the plaintiff in the claim;
evidence that allows you to establish the origin of the child from a specific man;
the applicant's claims;
list of attached documents.

In addition to the application itself, the plaintiff must provide:

a copy of the claim for the defendant;
a copy of an identity document;
a copy of the child's birth certificate;
documents proving the origin of the baby from a specific man;
receipt for payment of state duty.

As for the latter, the state fee in 2021 for filing a claim to establish origin, according to paragraphs. 3 p. 1 art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is 300 rubles. Ignoring this requirement and refusing to attach a document confirming the fact of payment, in accordance with Art. 136 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, entails leaving the statement of claim without consideration.

Evidence of origin

According to Art. 49 of the RF IC, when determining the origin of a child, the court is obliged to take into account any evidence that reliably confirms the paternity of a man. Based on Part 1 of Art. 55 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, they can be obtained from:

expert opinions confirming or refuting the origin, for example, if a paternity test was ordered;
testimony, for example, if the fact of a long-term relationship between the child’s mother and a man is confirmed by her friends;
written and material evidence, for example, if the fact of kinship or relationship is confirmed by correspondence;
audio, photo and video materials and any other evidence.

DNA test

In order to clarify issues of origin with high accuracy, the court has the right to order an analysis to determine paternity (including molecular genetic), either at the request of one of the parties or at its own discretion, but taking into account the position of the parties. However, its results, according to paragraph 20 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 16, 2017 No. 16, do not have initially pre-established force and cannot be taken by the court for granted.

Even if the examination can clearly identify a man as the father, its results are only one piece of evidence that must be considered in its entirety.

If a man in any way (does not come for an examination, does not provide biological material, and so on) avoids undergoing a paternity test even despite the court’s requirement, the latter, guided by Part 3 of Art. 79 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, has the right to recognize the fact of paternity as confirmed. Each such issue is resolved individually.

Find out more about when and how a DNA paternity test is performed.

If the parents are not married

According to family law, if a couple has registered their relationship, the woman can register the child with her husband without any problems. And then the waiver of parental rights is carried out using another procedure. But if they are not married (in a civil marriage), the man must recognize his paternity on his own.

Usually, for this, both parents, after the birth of the baby, go to the registry office and write a corresponding application. Then the man will be officially registered as the father of the newborn. In some cases, only the father of the child can apply:

if she died during childbirth;
the mother has mental disorders due to which she is not able to bear responsibility for the child;
the woman was deprived of parental rights to the baby;
the mother is unable to provide the child with suitable living conditions.

In the absence of registration of marriage between parents, a man can recognize his paternity only with the permission of the guardianship authority. If the guardianship authority refuses to carry out the procedure, you can go to court for help.

What documents will be required?

You also need to know what documents are needed to establish paternity. We will list them briefly; it is advisable to clarify the list each time on the spot. In any case, a direct statement written jointly by the parents, or two separate ones, will be required. If the child is already an adult, his consent will also be required, which can be issued in the form of a separate document or simply a signature in the parental application.

Of course, passports will be needed to confirm the identities of the applicants, and a birth certificate of the child - but it is only necessary if it has already been issued; if not, you can do without it. Finally, you will need a receipt showing payment of the fee.

Father's statement

But this is only if both parents submit the application. If there is one father, in addition to the passport, receipt and consent of the child, a document will be needed explaining the situation - that is, why the application was submitted only by the father. This is the certificate of death of the mother, declaring her incompetent, a court decision on deprivation of parental rights, and so on. If the child has not yet reached the age of majority, instead of his consent, the consent of the guardianship authorities will be required.

These are all the paternity documents that will need to be submitted.

Refusal to acknowledge paternity

Even if they are similar in blood group or appearance, the father may still refuse this fact. And if recognition of paternity is very important, it is necessary to go to court. Establishment may be delayed if the defendant is dead or missing.

But in any case, you should go to court and submit the necessary documents:

statement of claim;
papers for the child;
documents indicating that the defendant is dead or missing;
other papers that could prove paternity.

Download a sample statement of claim to establish paternity

Witnesses will also be needed. Even if the man did not officially recognize the child (did not give him his last name, etc.), he could take care of him, provide financial assistance and express his paternity in other ways.

In addition to the standard information, the statement of claim should include the following:

length of stay of the defendant with the child (address);
the reason why the parents did not register the marriage;
facts establishing that the defendant took part in raising the child;
requirement to establish paternity.

If the alleged father is a foreign citizen, then in the event of his death, to determine the relationship, all documents should be submitted to the consulate of his country.

Is it possible to object to a claim to establish paternity?

There are often cases where applications filed by the mother of a child to establish the paternity of a deceased spouse have the most complex review process, subject to certain circumstances. In particular, such circumstances may include counter-objections filed by close relatives of the deceased, including the official wife. The fact of relationship is confirmed by photographs, letters and testimony only if the deceased father was not officially married; in the opposite situation, it is much more difficult to prove paternity. As a rule, simply evidence and witness testimony is not enough for the court to make a decision if the alleged father lived in another family and a DNA test is required.

Important! Russian judicial practice shows that if there is a counterclaim to a filed application to establish paternity, in 95% of cases the court, when making a decision, is guided only by the results of a DNA analysis.

DNA test: is it worth paying?

With the development of science, methods have emerged that greatly simplify the determination of kinship. The DNA test in this case is one of the most popular, but not the cheapest. The cost of a standard analysis reaches 10–40 thousand rubles. The final price depends on the urgency and other nuances. If the test is ordered by the court, it is paid for from the budget.

If the test is done while the woman is still pregnant (this procedure is quite dangerous for the fetus), then the cost of the analysis doubles. However, many fathers are willing to spend money to finally find out their relationship with their child.

It is known that during the analysis, a specialist compares the set of genes of a minor with the genes of the intended parent. For the determination, biological material from both subjects is taken (usually saliva or hair, but there may be blood or skin particles). If the result is positive, the analysis shows 99.9% probable similarity. A 100% guarantee is not given, but this is quite enough.

The good thing about a DNA test is that even if a parent dies, paternity can be established. For example, compare the genes of a child and the closest relatives of the deceased. Such an analysis will be accepted in court without any problems.

Determining the origin of an adult

By the way, the legislator allows establishing paternity not only of small children, but also of adults; the law does not provide for any age restrictions in this regard. There are also no procedural differences - origin is determined both voluntarily and in court.

Thus, voluntary determination of origin in relation to a person who has reached the age of eighteen is allowed, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Part. 48 of the RF IC, only with his consent. If at this moment he is declared incompetent by the court, his guardian can give such consent. The law does not talk about the need to obtain the consent of an adult citizen during judicial proceedings.

In addition, an adult himself has the right to initiate the establishment of paternity in relation to himself. So, according to Art. 49 of the RF IC, the court can establish the origin of an adult citizen based on his own application. The defendant in this case will be the man whom the plaintiff is trying to recognize as the father. For this procedure, the same rules of judicial recognition apply, which we wrote about above.

Consequences of determining origin

According to Art. 47 of the RF IC, parental rights and responsibilities arise for parents on the basis of the origin of their children, established in a manner established by law. That is, the first and main legal consequences that occur as a result of establishing paternity, be it voluntary or judicial, is the emergence of parental rights and responsibilities.

It is noteworthy that, by virtue of Art. 53 of the RF IC, the relationship between parents in no way affects the scope of rights and responsibilities towards the child; Once paternity is established, children acquire the same rights to their parents as children born in wedlock. These legal ties arise (not only in relation to the father, but also to his relatives) not from the moment the man is recognized as the father, but from the moment the baby is born.

What rights does a new father have?

Now let's figure out what rights a father has to a child after paternity has been established. Since the scope of parental rights does not depend on the relationship between the parents, the new father acquires the same scope of father's rights as if he were married to the mother of his baby.

The rights and responsibilities of parents are determined by Chapter 12 of the RF IC, according to the provisions of which the newly-minted father will have the right to:

communication with the child, his upbringing, care for his physical, spiritual, moral and other development;
educating the child, participating in the choice of an educational organization for him, the form of education and training;
legal representation and protection of the interests of the child before any other persons;
determining the place of residence of the baby together with his mother;
obtaining information about a son or daughter from social, educational, medical and other institutions;
inheritance, alimony and other property rights, and so on.

Payment of alimony

One of the purposes of establishing paternity is to collect alimony payments from a man. The fact is that, according to Art. 80 of the RF IC, parents are obliged to support their minor children. From the moment paternity is established, this obligation also arises for the man recognized as the parent.

If the father does not pay money for maintenance, alimony can be collected in court. It is noteworthy that the claim for alimony can be filed by the plaintiff simultaneously with the claim to establish the origin of the child. However, despite the emergence of legal ties between the father and the baby from the moment of birth, alimony in this case can be assigned only from the moment the claim is filed.

If the person recognized as the father continues to evade child support obligations, the bailiffs may apply interim measures to him, namely:

a ban on the use of special rights, in particular the right to use weapons or a car;
restrictions on traveling abroad;
seizure of property, bank accounts;
bringing to administrative and criminal liability.

Challenging paternity

If the entry in the birth book in the registry office contains the name of a person who does not consider himself the father of a particular child, or, despite such an entry, another man is trying to prove his right to paternity, then, according to Art. 52 of the RF IC, has the opportunity to challenge the origin of the child in court. In addition to them, the right to such challenge has:

the child himself upon reaching 18 years of age;
his guardian;
guardian of the parent recorded as the father or who is actually the father.

There is one peculiarity: according to Part 2 of Art. 52 of the RF IC, a man who, at the time of registering him as a parent, knew that in fact he was not one, does not have the right to challenge paternity.

Find out more about how paternity is contested.

What can serve as evidence in the case?

The key and indisputable evidence is the results of genetic testing. If the defendant in court refuses to acknowledge the demands to challenge paternity, the plaintiff files a petition to conduct a forensic genetic examination. Its results, with an accuracy of 99 and 9 percent in the period, will confirm the validity or fallacy of the stated claims.

In legal practice, there have been situations when the defendant (the child’s mother) refused to conduct a genetic examination or interfered with its conduct. In this case, the court reserves the right to satisfy the claims automatically.

Not so strong, but significant evidence in the case can include witness testimony, medical documents (for example, a man’s infertility confirmed by an extract from a medical record), photographic and video materials.

If the defendant admits the claim voluntarily, the court satisfies the plaintiff’s demands, and adjustments are made to the registry office’s record of the child’s birth.