Attorney Disavowal Procedure in Louisiana

This article continues from the previous article on Louisiana's paternity law, and adds to it the laws concerning how and how long you have disavow paternity before it becomes too late and you are no longer able to rebut the presumption even with significant DNA testing. In other words, if you do not disavow timely and in the right manner you could be presumed to have the exact same legal relationship to the child were you that child's biological parent. This means that the child may have both inheritance rights and the ability to get child support from you until the child turns 18.

The first and most frequent disavowal that an attorney encounters is the situation whereby a husband has been separated from his wife for several years and now is seeking to end the marriage. Meanwhile, his wife has gotten pregnant from another man. The husband in this instance has one year to disavow paternity after he found out or should have found out about the birth of the child.

While it may seem somewhat of a relief to know that you can still disavow paternity within a year after learning that a child has been born, it is not a good idea to let it become so late before you take legal action to end. The reason for this is that the party trying to establish paternity could always make the argument that you knew earlier and that you simply chose to ignore your right to disavow until it eventually became too late. Or, they might make that argument that you actually were living in the home at some point during the 300 days prior to birth a child.

While there are several other timelines for disavowing paternity, the above mentioned is overwhelmingly the most important and most frequently used by an attorney. In order to disavow paternity using the above method, you will have to show clear and convincing evidence that the father presumed is not in fact biologically the father. To do this you'll either have to show some sort of medically established way of proving no genetic connection such as a DNA test or show that it was impossible for you to have conceived the child or some sort of other very strong evidence.

Beyond the formal disavowal procedure mentioned above, it is absolutely crucial that you be aware that if someone has identified you as a father of the child it can be possible that you will have to pay child support, if you do not contest this charge within a certain length of time. If someone has identified that you are the father of a child, it is important that you contact an attorney timely in order to make sure that you do not lose the right to do this. After all, having to pay child support for a child that is not yours can be very difficult.

Will Beaumont is an attorney in New Orleans. This article is strictly informational and not legal advice.