The procedure for establishing paternity: instructions, assistance from a lawyer

Our family lawyer will explain the procedure for establishing paternity, tell you what documents are needed to establish paternity and the consequences of the procedure.

ATTENTION: do not confuse the procedure and procedure for establishing paternity with the special process of establishing the fact of recognition of paternity, which is carried out when the child’s father has died or gone missing.

Procedure for establishing paternity

Paternity can be established voluntarily, so-called extrajudicially, and in court.

Establishing paternity through the registry office

Paternity can be established voluntarily if the child's father agrees to be listed as the father. In this case, both parents draw up one joint application and submit it to the registry office, or each separately draws up an application and submits it to the registry office, if one of the parents cannot submit an application together with the other parent.

In a situation where the child’s mother has died, been declared incompetent, her whereabouts are unknown, or she has been deprived of parental rights, the child’s father submits an application to the registry office to establish paternity, but in this case the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authority is still required, which must be attached to the application.

The law also provides for the possibility of submitting a joint application to establish paternity to the civil registry office when the child has not yet been born, i.e. during the woman’s pregnancy, if there are circumstances due to which it may be impossible or difficult to submit such an application after the birth of the child.

When contacting the registry office:

appropriate applications are drawn up and submitted by the father and mother of the child with the provision of passports and the child’s birth certificate, as well as receipts for payment of state fees. In other cases, the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, an adult child, medical documents about pregnancy, etc., are also provided, depending on the circumstances;
the civil registry office issues a certificate of paternity establishment

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Establishing paternity through court

Paternity is established in court if the child’s mother refuses to submit a joint application to establish paternity, the child’s biological father does not recognize his paternity or refuses to submit an application to the registry office, as well as in a situation where the guardianship and trusteeship authorities do not give the child’s father consent to establish paternity .

An application to establish paternity can be submitted by the mother, the father of the child, the guardian (trustee) of the child or the person who is dependent on the child. Also, an application to establish paternity can be filed in court by the child himself if he has reached the age of majority. If paternity is established not at the request of the child and after he reaches the age of majority, in this case the consent of the child is required.
DNA examination. In a situation where the defendant (the child’s father) categorically does not recognize his paternity, as a rule, the court orders a molecular genetic examination, since the conclusion of such an examination is in fact the only sufficiently reliable evidence confirming or refuting the defendant’s paternity.
A request to order an examination can be filed by the plaintiff, the defendant, or the examination can be ordered on the initiative of the court. The law office “Katsailidi and Partners” will help you draw up everything correctly and on time.
The court makes a ruling on the appointment of an examination, entrusting it to a specific organization, and indicates what actions the parties must perform, for example, the child’s mother must bring him to take samples for analysis, and the child’s father must come to the expert institution also to take samples for comparative analysis . Next, the expert will conduct a study based on the samples taken and prepare a conclusion on the likelihood of the person’s paternity in relation to the child. Next, the conclusion will be sent to the court.

The sad thing about conducting an examination is its cost, which must be paid by the person who filed the request for the examination, most often the plaintiff. In judicial practice, there are cases when the examination is paid for from budget funds, in particular by the Office of the Judicial Department, but these are very rare cases.

When going to court:

♦ a claim to establish paternity is prepared and filed;
♦ the plaintiff and defendant participate in court hearings;
♦ if the court orders an examination to establish paternity, the plaintiff and defendant must follow the court’s instructions set out in the ruling on ordering the examination, in particular, appear before the expert together with the child. ATTENTION! if one of the parents evades participation in the examination, in this case, when making a decision on the case, the court recognizes one or another fact as established or refuted, taking into account which party evaded, i.e. if the child’s father does not appear for the examination, the court will consider it established that he is the child’s father;
♦ if the court satisfies the requirements for establishing paternity, the plaintiff receives a court decision that has entered into legal force and registers paternity with the civil registry office.

Terms of consideration

The length of the legal process can vary significantly depending on the specific situation. Although the deadlines are regulated by law, in practice, the period for consideration of an application can reach 1.5 years. Therefore, the applicant does not need to expect a quick result.

Review deadlines:

from the moment the documents are sent to the court until a decision is made to consider the claim - 5 days;
conducting a preliminary conversation – within 30 days;
scheduling a court hearing – within 30 days;
making a determination to conduct a DNA test – 14 days;
conducting the study – within 30 days;
sending the results to the court - within 3 days;
scheduling a repeat meeting – within 30 days;
The court decision enters into force after 30 days.

Grounds for establishing paternity

The basis for establishing paternity is

a joint application of the mother and father of the child submitted to the registry office, or applications submitted by each parent;
statement from the child’s father in a situation where the child’s mother cannot submit an application, due to death, unknown whereabouts, and in other cases;
establishing in court that the biological father of the child is the plaintiff or the defendant (depending on who files the claim), including in the situation where the defendant (the child’s father) recognizes claims to establish paternity.

Additional Information

The issues of determining and officially establishing paternity are replete with various nuances. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions.

The fact that a man is recognized as a father does not automatically lead to the withholding of alimony payments from him. To assign them you need:
obtain a court decision.
The registry office authorities do not have the legislative right to find out whether the applicant is the biological father of the child. Only the court can determine this.
If a child is declared incompetent, then all decisions regarding him are made with the participation of the guardianship authorities.
The trustee of an incapacitated man also does not have the right to decide for him issues related to the recognition of paternity. Such cases are dealt with in court.

Evidence and documents to establish paternity

Evidence confirming the paternity of a particular person in relation to a child may include:

explanations of the parties and third parties,
witness statements,
some written evidence, for example, letters, a court verdict, if, for example, the child’s father, being an adult, had sexual intercourse with the child’s mother when she was a minor, resulting in her pregnancy,
photos,
medical documents confirming, for example, that the child’s father went with the mother and took certain tests,
audio and video recordings,
and, of course, the conclusion of a molecular genetic examination, which is ordered by the court during the consideration of the case.

How to write a statement to establish paternity?

Jurisdiction of cases to establish paternity. A claim to establish paternity must be filed in the district court. In this case, the claim can be filed both at the place of residence of the plaintiff and at the place of residence of the defendant; in this case, the plaintiff chooses where to file the application.

The state fee for filing a claim to establish paternity is 300 rubles.

When writing an application to establish paternity, you should be guided by the provisions of the procedural code on the form and content of the claim, namely, the claim is filed in writing, which must indicate:

the name of the district court to which the plaintiff is appealing;
Full name and address of the plaintiff, as well as telephone number, email;
Full name and address of the defendant, as well as telephone number;
the name of the procedural document “statement of claim to establish paternity”;
the text of the claim must set out the circumstances in connection with which the plaintiff goes to court, namely, what kind of relationship the plaintiff and defendant had (lived together and had a common household, or met); when the plaintiff found out about the pregnancy, and if she told the defendant about the pregnancy, what was his reaction; whether the plaintiff offered the defendant to establish paternity, etc. This is approximately what can be indicated in a claim and proven, including with the help of witness testimony. As a result, indicate that the defendant refused to establish paternity or does not recognize paternity, and therefore the plaintiff is forced to go to court. It is also advisable to refer to legal norms regarding issues of establishing paternity;
in the pleading part of the claim, the requirements are indicated, namely, to establish the paternity of the defendant, full name, date of birth, place of birth, in relation to the child, full name, date of birth, place of birth.
when justifying its claims, the plaintiff will refer to certain circumstances, which are confirmed by relevant documents (if such documents are available), copies of which must be attached to the claim and indicated in the annex to the claim. Those. After the stated requirements, it is necessary to indicate a list of copies of documents that are attached to the claim. Do not forget to attach the original receipt of payment of the state fee. Also, in the pleading part of the claim, they are sometimes asked to call witnesses to the court hearing who can confirm the plaintiff’s arguments, indicating their full name and address. A request to call and question witnesses can be filed in a separate document;
At the end of the application there is a date, the plaintiff’s signature and a transcript of the signature.

The claim, with the attached documents, must be filed with the court according to the number of persons indicated in it, i.e. if the plaintiff and defendant are indicated, then in 2 copies. Don't forget to make one copy for yourself.

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Option 3. Appeal from the father of an adult child

The law does not limit the time limit for establishing a relationship between a father and a child if the marriage between the parents is not registered. Therefore, the issue can be resolved in relation to an adult citizen.

The general procedure remains the same. Additionally, it is only necessary to obtain the child’s consent. His opinion is formalized in writing and presented to the registry office. The personal presence of an adult citizen is required.

If an adult child is deprived of legal capacity, the consent of his guardian must be obtained. In such a situation, the guardian is required to appear at the registry office.

Cancellation of paternity establishment

There are situations when a man has established paternity without knowing that he is not actually the father of the child, and the child’s mother certainly did not know this. It was subsequently discovered that the man listed as the child's father was not in fact his biological father. What to do? In this case, the man or the child’s mother has the right to file a lawsuit to challenge paternity.

ATTENTION: if a man, when establishing paternity, knew that the child was not his, i.e. that he is not the biological father of the child, he will not be able to challenge his paternity.

However, a person may file a lawsuit to challenge the paternity of a person:

biological father of the child,
the child himself, who has reached the age of majority,
guardian (trustee) of the child,
guardian of a parent declared incompetent by a court.

Taking into account the above, you cannot simply go to the registry office and cancel established paternity, and it is not always possible to cancel paternity by challenging it in court.

Legislative framework on the topic

Due to the fact that the process of establishing paternity affects the rights and interests of the child, the Russian Federation has a full-fledged legislative framework in this area. It consists of such laws as:

Family Code of the Russian Federation - Art. 48, 49, 50, 51 of the RF IC give a general idea of the procedure for establishing paternity.
The Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation regulates the general rules of judicial proceedings and proceedings.
Federal Law No. 143 “On Acts of Civil Status” dated November 15, 1997 - Chapter VI is entirely devoted to the process of registering paternity by civil registry office employees.
Order of the Ministry of Justice No. 201 of October 1, 2018 “On approval of application forms for state registration of the civil registry office and Rules for filling out forms” - concentrates application forms.
Tax Code of the Russian Federation – Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regulates the amount of state duty.

In some cases, other regulatory and local acts may come into force that affect and regulate certain aspects of establishing paternity. The above list is general and does not cover the intricacies of the process under consideration.

Establishing paternity is an actual procedure that is used if the child’s parents are not officially married, or the wrong citizen is registered as the father.
Current legislation provides for the possibility of both voluntary and judicial options for obtaining papal status. They differ in the duration and complexity of the process. In the first case, the father does not dispute the legal fact, he himself expresses a desire to recognize paternity, in the second situation this is not the case and the need arises to go to court. All these cases were described in detail in this article. Order a free legal consultation

Consequences of establishing paternity

For this reason, our clients are starting paternity court proceedings in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region:

Alimony: it becomes possible to collect alimony, additional expenses related to education, treatment, etc. from such a parent, then in the future it will be possible to consider the issue of increasing child support, which will have a positive impact on providing the child with everything necessary for his full development and upbringing.
An entry in the certificate: the real father will be indicated in the birth certificate instead of a dash, and your child will no longer be fatherless - establishing paternity will correct the situation. At the same time, it sometimes happens that a parent, in relation to whom paternity has been established in court, develops a feeling of responsibility for the child, and the child has a wide circle of relatives on his father’s side, grandparents, aunts and uncles, who will be delighted to see him in their family. family of a loved one and will participate in his life. Even if the mother is against establishing paternity, the court will satisfy your demands.
Inheritance rights: in the event of the death of a common-law spouse and the fact of recognition of paternity is established, it becomes possible to register for the child the rights to the inheritance of the father, and paternal relatives, pension rights, moreover, the child acquires relatives on the father’s side who will be happy with the appearance of a legitimate child, “bloods” of a loved one who left them untimely.
Participation in upbringing: judicial establishment of paternity by the child’s father or his mother, recognition of paternity will allow in the future to avoid reproaches from the children that the mother left them without a father, both in fact and legally, that she took every opportunity for the father to participate in the children’s lives.

Where to contact?

To register paternity, you should contact the registry office located:

at the place of registration/residence of the father, if recognition of paternity occurs upon registration of the son or daughter;
at the place of registration/residence of the mother;
at the place of registration/residence of the child, if recognition is made after receipt of the birth certificate.

The application can be submitted through the State Services portal with a simple electronic signature of both parents.