A paternity finding resolves issues of legitimacy, and may be followed by court rulings that relate to child support and maintenance, custody and guardianship.
[7] Some states have a legal process for a husband to disavow paternity, such that a biological father can be named as the parent of a child conceived or born during a marriage.
Depending upon state law, it may nonetheless be possible for a man claiming to be the child's biological father to commence a paternity case following the divorce.
[13] Some paternity laws assign full parental responsibility to fathers even in cases of women lying about contraception, using deceit (such as oral sex followed by self-artificial insemination)[citation needed] or statutory rape by a woman (Hermesmann v.
In many jurisdictions, however, there are a variety of rules and time restrictions that can deny inheritance rights to biological children of a deceased father.