Talk:Paternity law

Common law/Civil law/Other systems
We have a lot of information here, but no clue as to which jurisdiction(s) it applies to. - Montr&eacute;alais 19:09, 26 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * I agree, entirely. As it is, it implies that every human society bases its laws on canon law, and has a concept of common law. Anglo-Saxon-centrism (or, more usually, US-centrism) is a serious flaw in this project Flobster 10:01, 8 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * It's not a problem with the project, it's a problem with the page. Go fix it, don't complain. Fix it wherever you see it. Be bold in updating pages. -- Tim Starling 10:46, Feb 8, 2004 (UTC)

I know nothing of paterity law in other legal systems - or my own, for that matter - Flobster 10:48, 8 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * The article is pretty clear, it is a general article that applies to common law systems and it discusses principles that operate in civil law systems that find the origins in the roman or canon law. Anyone want to add a section about paternity under African tribal customs or paternity under the Torah or Koran? &#8212; Alex756 [[User_talk:Alex756 talk 15:48, 8 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * The alternative to roman-derived systems (and I seriously doubt that the article applies to them all) isn't just 'African tribal customs' it's the vast majority of the world's population and cultures. The article writes about a small miority as if it was dominant system. - Flobster

Please sign your posts, What is a "miority"? I think that paternity is a western legal concept, and if it is then this article is accurate. If you have any knowledge, just share it rather than being critical in such a negative way. Perhaps you don't know what you are talking about and just like complaining about things you know nothing about? Making assertions that the article writes about a "small miority" (whatever that is) without any evidence is just a waste of the time of editors who are trying to write complete articles. Where is the evidence, the citations, the quotes, etc.? That would be useful to rewriting this article, not just complaining. &#8212; Alex756 User_talk:Alex756 talk]


 * My posts ARE signed, aren't they? I imagine that paternity is a legal concept in every society that recognises it as a biological concept (the Trobriand Islanders didn't, traditionally). I am pointing out that the article reads as though it is addressing the entire human experience but in fact it doesn't. It is, in that sense, highly POV. As a discussion of paternity law in the British common law tradition (although disregarding legislative chages in all but US jusrisdictions) it sems fine but it should have made clear that this is what it is doing. Flobster 03:40, 9 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I would like to see an explanation of what a 'declaration of paternity' is, where it is used, and why. Eddietoran (talk) 07:50, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Merge "Paternity fraud" to Paternity (law)
I think the issue of paternity fraud should be left in the discussion of Paternity (law) and not as a separate discussion on paternity fraud. The question of defining paternity is one area of active legislative movement, and there are many states in the U.S. which have opted to modernize laws to make for greater use of genetic test results in the question of defining legal paternity. In this sense, common law doctrine discussed in the introduction to this page is not longer strictly applicable due to these modifications. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Juliandroms (talk • contribs)


 * Oppose - separate concepts, as is illustrated by the legal cases. Related to deception/fraud and in some cases for gain. Paul foord 05:14, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Delete and start over
Embarrassingly bad article. Should be deleted in its entirety and someone who knows something about the subject should try again. 75.145.243.93 (talk) 23:39, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Are there any that don't?
I've tried to remove the bias from this passage: "Some paternity laws assign full parental responsibility to fathers even in cases of women lying about contraception, using deceit (such as oral sex followed by self artificial insemination (State of Louisiana v. Frisard) or statutory rape by a woman (Hermesmann v. Seyer)." However, saying that some paternity laws assign full responsibility implies that others don't. It's interesting and worth treating in full.  Does anyone know where we could find sources for this? Darkfrog24 (talk) 21:35, 17 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Not really a matter of bias but definition I think. It doesn't help that there are about eight different topics trying to be one paragraph.
 * "Full parental responsibility" in one place may mean a civil right to an active, involved role of a child's life. An example would be as envisioned under the U.N.Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 * - In another place "Full parental responsibility" can mean only the right to pay child support, related costs and nothing else. An example would be family courts enforcing a support order citing "parental responsibility" while at the same time refusing to enforce their own visitation orders that are also considered a "parental responsibility". This is generally called something like, "custodial parental visitation interference". example
 * - In extremely selective cases "Full parental responsibility" may even mean only financial responsibilities for a child that has been adopted and already has a different legally determined father. Rare, but possible in the United States under some putative father registry systems.
 * - As far as I know there is no common law country that has laws making a woman lying to a man about contraception illegal, no reason for that to be there.
 * - Just because a child is born of a mother under the age of 15-18, depending on country, does not mean it does not have the right to child support from the father or non-custodial mother. Child support is defined by all common law countries as being part of a non-custodial parents' responsibilities. It is defined that way by the United Nations Charter also if another example is needed. The fluff about statutory rape is wrong and doesn't need to be there.
 * - The rambling-on about deceit and oral sex are examples of paternity fraud. No reason for that sentence to be in a paragraph trying to talk about parental responsibilities. --West Horizon (talk) 13:04, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Looking to make additions
I believe that paternity law is a very important topic that needs more addressing. The existing article has some general information, but I think I can contribute to it by adding more court cases that show how paternal rights are established and handled. I might also add the effects paternity laws have on the child. I have ore details for why I want to edit this page, as well as the references I am looking to use on my user page.McCrowBar (talk) 04:28, 6 September 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by McCrowBar (talk • contribs) 04:20, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
 * While explanations of how paternity laws differ, or how they are applied by courts of various nations might be helpful to this article, it appears that you want to present an argument as to why the law should be changed and the concept of "father" expanded. The latter type of content seems better placed in an article such as Parent or Father. Arllaw (talk) 14:10, 10 September 2018 (UTC)