Rule 5.635.Parentage

The court does not wait to be asked. It has a duty to inquire about and try to determine the parentage of every child who is the subject of a petition, and it may enter a judgment of parentage under the Uniform Parentage Act. Once a petition is filed, the juvenile court has exclusive jurisdiction over a parentage action while the case is open.

The inquiry starts at the initial hearing in a dependency case, or at disposition in a delinquency case, and continues at later hearings until parentage is settled. The court asks the parents present, and anyone else who might know, about the identity and address of every presumed or alleged parent. The rule then lists the kind of questions that help: whether a judgment already exists, whether the mother was married or in a registered domestic partnership at or after conception, whether she believed she was, whether she was cohabiting, whether support was paid or promised, whether anyone acknowledged parentage formally or informally or agreed to go on the birth certificate, whether genetic testing was done, and whether the child has been raised in a co-parenting arrangement.

A properly executed and filed voluntary declaration has the force of a judgment, and the person who signed it is presumed to be the child’s parent.

Where the issue is raised, the court asks what has already been decided, has the clerk send form JV-500 to the local child support agency, and takes judicial notice of any prior determination that comes back. The agency has 25 judicial days to answer, with certified copies attached.

If there has been no prior determination, the court makes one. Any alleged father and his counsel complete form JV-505, which must be available in the courtroom; the court may order genetic testing; and it may decide parentage on testimony, declarations or statements. It must warn any alleged parent that a finding of parentage carries a duty of financial support, and may lead to a support action if the child receives welfare benefits. A finding of parentage is recorded on form JV-501 and sent to the local child support agency.

Alleged parents get notice. The clerk mails each named alleged parent, at the last known address by certified mail with return receipt, a copy of the petition, notice of the next hearing, and form JV-505 — unless the petition has been dismissed, the case has ended, the alleged parent has already denied parentage and waived notice, or they have relinquished the child to the welfare department. If an alleged parent appears and asks for a judgment on form JV-505, the court must decide whether they are the biological parent and, if asked, whether they are the presumed parent.