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Colorado Paternity Laws Overview

The first thing to realize about paternity in Colorado is that it's complex. The issue is a sensitive one and in an attempt to do full justice to the child first, and to be as fair as possible to all parties concerned, Colorado paternity law has been modified several times over the years and to fully understand it, you should get yourself a professional paternity lawyer.

However, in order to help you understand the issues involved and to catch a short glimps of paternity issues in Colorado, this article will help you understand why paternity is important, and when paternity is implied.

Why establishing Paternity in Colorado is important

Apart from the very real reasons of providing a distinct identity for the child in question, it is important for several reasons to establish paternity.

For example, without a legal paternity establishment, courts will not allow you certain privileges regarding your time and responsibilities that affect your child. In cases of child support as well, the courts will fix responsibility on the legal parent. In order to firmly establish your presence as a factor in the child's life, paternity determinations is extremely important.

In cases involving adoption, child custody and even citizenship, the parentage of the child is extremely important. If you are the psychological parent of the child in question, you owe it to him or her to establish your paternity and give your child a sense of identity.

When is paternity in Colorado implied?

In most cases, paternity is implied. In Title 19, Article 4, Section 105 of the Colorado revised statutes, the conditions are clearly laid down for the situations when a specific declaration of paternity is not required. In case the child is born within wedlock, the husband is presumed to be the father even if the marriage is declared illegal later on.  Furthermore, if the man and the mother have been married in the past and the child is born within 300 days of the marriage having ended, paternity is once more implied.

Interestingly, under the paternity laws in Colorado, if a man receives a child into his home when the child is still a minor and openly declares him or her as his child, then once more, Colorado law presumes paternity. The court also accepts DNA testing provided the chances of the man being the father is at least 97%. This is not a problem since DNA tests are around 99.99% correct.

In case of a marriage taken place after the child's birth, the man must acknowledge his parentage in writing with the court and he must agree to be named as the father on the child's birth certificate in order to be the legal father.

These are only a small number of the various conditions and complexities.

Hiring a Paternity lawyer in Colorado

In order to effectively deal with a court summons or any paternity issue in Colorado, it is critical to get legal help as soon as possible. The law is not easy to fully comprehend and you might be walking into unintended consequences without a competent attorney by your side.