Distinguishing Legitimacy from Paternity: Has Legitimacy Become a Label Without Substance Under Flo

Findlaw was sued by Attorneys In Motion for stealing their website design. The court said Findlaw was guilty and had to pay the other company for damages. Recent Florida court decisions show that paternity and legitimacy are now seen as separate concepts. Legitimacy used to be strongly tied to being born during a marriage, but now a child can be considered legitimate even if the father is not their biological parent. The court in the case of Daniel v. Daniel made it clear that paternity and legitimacy are different, and being legitimate does not necessarily mean a child is entitled to support from their legal father. Essentially, being legitimate doesn’t guarantee any benefits if the biological father is not involved. In a recent case, a husband asked for blood tests on his six children during a divorce. The court appointed a guardian ad litem to decide if the tests were in the children’s best interests. The court denied the husband’s request, but the appeals court reversed the decision and ordered the tests. The court said that the children are still considered legitimate, but the husband doesn’t have to support them if the tests show he’s not their father. Overall, the case shows that if a father asks for a genetic test, the court can’t stop it, even if it might affect the children’s legitimacy. In the DeRico case, a man found out through genetic testing that two of the three children born during his marriage were not biologically his. He asked the court to stop his support obligation for those two children, but the court refused, saying it was in the children’s best interest to remain “legitimate.” The higher court disagreed, saying that the man had no legal duty to support children he didn’t biologically father, adopt, or agree to care for. In the DeRico case, the judges disagreed on whether a determination of paternity could be changed without proof of fraud. And in the Contino case, a father’s children questioned whether the youngest son was really his biological child. The court used the Privette ruling to protect the son’s rights, saying that it’s not fair to declare a child illegitimate based only on genetic testing. In the case of Contino, the court ruled that a child born during a marriage is considered legitimate and the husband is presumed to be the father, even if there’s evidence to the contrary. However, the dissenting judge disagreed and said the presumption can be challenged with genetic testing. The big question is, does being born in a marriage make a child legitimate, and does paternity alone determine if a child can inherit? That’s what we’re trying to figure out. In the case of Daniel, a guardian needs to be appointed to protect a child’s interests before a genetic test is ordered, but only if the legal father doesn’t want the test. This is based on a previous case called Privette. In another case called Contino, the court likely followed Privette because the deceased legal father never disowned his youngest son. In Privette, the court ruled that a guardian must be appointed to represent the child and consider the best interests of the child and the rights of the legal father before ordering a genetic test. The Privette decision says that being a legal father is not just about biology. If a man has been a father to a child and has a good relationship with the child, he should still be considered the legal father even if a DNA test shows he isn’t the biological father. This is to protect the child’s relationship with the man who has been a father to them. The Mays v. Twigg case, where a teenager was left with the man who raised her even when they found out she was switched at birth, is an example of this. The same goes for cases where a mother or father can’t deny the legal father’s status, and cases where a man claims to be the biological father of a child born to a married woman and is not allowed to disrupt the family with a paternity claim. Being a legal dad is about more than just biology. It also says that a husband can challenge his status as a legal father, but only if he doesn’t want to be responsible for child support. It used to be that the best interests of the child to stay legitimate and not have a DNA test that might question their legitimacy were important, but now any child born during a legal marriage is considered legitimate. So, the main question is whether the husband wants to get a genetic test or not, which would show that he doesn’t want to be the child’s father. After a court case called Daniel, there are still questions about whether men who become legal fathers through certain legal procedures can ask for genetic tests to prove if they are the biological father. The court in Daniel said that a man doesn’t have to support a child that is not his, but it’s not clear if this applies to all legal fathers in similar situations. There are also questions about whether it’s fair for a legal father or mother to use the law to avoid supporting a child they have a relationship with. The court in Daniel said that protecting children is important, so it’s possible that a long-standing legal principle called fatherhood by estoppel can still be used in these situations. In the court case Daniel, there was a new ruling that a child who is not a husband’s biological child can still be considered his legitimate child. This means that the child is entitled to inheritance from the husband, even if they are not biologically related. The court created a distinction between paternity and legitimacy, which means that a child can be legitimate without being biologically related to their father. This ruling was not necessary for the decision in the Daniel case, and it is unclear why the court made this distinction. Generally, when there is proof that a child is not biologically related to their father, the presumption of legitimacy should no longer apply. In the case of Daniel, the courts made a distinction between the requirement to prove paternity and the protection of a child’s legitimacy. They determined that a child’s legitimacy must be protected, even if the legal father doesn’t want a blood test. This means that a child born or conceived during a lawful marriage is considered legitimate, regardless of paternity. This decision has important implications for family law and other areas of the law. There are many court cases in Florida about paternity, which is when someone is officially considered the father of a child. In one case, a husband tried to prove that he wasn’t the father of a child born during his marriage. But the court said he needed really strong evidence to overcome the assumption that he was the father. Another case said that even if a child doesn’t share a man’s genes, they can still be considered his legitimate child. There are also cases where a man can’t challenge paternity if he already acted like the child’s father. Overall, these cases show that figuring out who a child’s legal father is can be complicated. Judge R. Thomas Corbin is a circuit judge in Lee County, handling family law and domestic violence cases. He has been a judge since 1994 and was a lawyer before that. Rana Holz is a partner at a law firm in Ft. Myers, focusing on family law and appeals. They both have law degrees and are involved in legal publications. The column is from the Family Law Section. Their goal is to promote duty, service, and justice in the legal profession.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/distinguishing-legitimacy-from-paternity-has-legitimacy-become-a-label-without-substance-under-flo/