Paternity Suit
by: New Mexico Legal Aid
Paternity means the father of a child. You must prove paternity to start the process of getting child support.
Your child is born outside of marriage. You want to collect child support. You must prove he is the father (paternity).
Once you proved paternity, the court can order child support.
Once the father begins paying child support, his rights to the child are created..
How is paternity established in New Mexico?
In New Mexico, a man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if:
1. He was married to the mother of the child.
The child was born during the marriage.
The child was born up to three hundred (300) days after the marriage was ended legally.
The marriage is pronounced invalid.
2. The mother and father tried to get married before the baby was born.
The marriage was not valid.
3. Or, if after the child is born:
a. The mother and father get married.
They try to get married.
The marriage is not valid.
The father admitted his paternity in writing.
The admission is filed with the Department of Health.
b. The mother and father get married.
They try to get married.
The marriage is not valid.
The father gave his permission to be on the birth certificate.
c. The father and mother get married.
They try to get married.
The marriage is not valid.
The father must pay child support because he admitted in writing that he would.
The court ordered him to.
4. Or, while the child is a minor:
a. He openly says the child is his.
He has a personal relationship with the child.
He has a financial relationship with the child.
He has a custody relationship with the child.
b. He files a document admitting to his paternity with the Department of Health.
The mother does not fight it.
c. Blood and genetic tests show a 99% chance that he is the father.
The father does not admit paternity. You can bring a Paternity Suit to prove he is the father in the courts.
If the other person claims he is not the father, he can file and ANSWER. He can ask for paternity testing. The court will order the testing. It will be done by blood test, or DNA.
Blood testing is more complicated than comparing blood types, A+ to B-.
If the person to be tested will not cooperate, the court can find that he is the father.
If the mother brings the case to court, and will not cooperate, the court can drop the case.
The paternity case will settle the question of who is the father of the child. The judge can then order him to pay for the pregnancy. He can order him to pay for the birth and other expenses.
Helpful Tip: Proving who is the father, gives him legal rights to the child. They include custody and visitation. Learn about what the father's rights to the child are. Then decide if you should prove paternity.
Helpful Tip: If you your child to have rights to the father's social security benefits, you have to prove paternity. The same is true of Veteran's benefits and worker's disability benefits.
Power of The Court Tip: The power of the court is its Jurisdiction.
If the person accused of being the father of the child had sex in the state, at or about the time the baby was conceived, jurisdiction is created.
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