How is a paternity trial going? Legal process for establishing paternity

stipulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation. We will talk about the procedure for establishing paternity through the court and the legal consequences of this legal action for the child in our article.

Establishing paternity in court

According to the provisions of Article 49 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the establishment of paternity in a judicial proceeding occurs under the simultaneous observance of 2 conditions:

• the parents of the child are not registered;
• there is no statement of paternity in the registry office.

But the legislator has provided another option for determining paternity in court - in the absence of permission from the guardianship authorities for the father to file an application alone, if:

• mother's whereabouts unknown;
• she was deprived of parental rights;
• the court found her incompetent;
• mother's death.

Due to the fact that the Family Code of the Russian Federation was put into effect on March 1, 1996, its norms apply only to those legal relations that arose after this date. That is, the establishment of paternity in a judicial procedure, provided for by a normative act, applies in full to children born on March 1, 1996 and later. With regard to the establishment of paternity in court of children who were born earlier, the articles of the Code of Marriage and Family of the RSFSR are used.

The institution of recognition of paternity became necessary after the cases of children born out of wedlock became more frequent. Its main purpose is to protect the rights of children, so that even an illegitimate child can receive assistance from his father after paternity is established in court. In addition, it should be noted that the courts carefully check all the evidence in the case and take into account all known facts.

Algorithm of actions when establishing paternity in court

In a case of establishing paternity in a court of law, a claim can be filed:

• any parent;
• a child who is already 18 years old;
• child's guardian;
• a citizen who has adopted a child as a dependent.

Cases that are related to the determination of paternity do not fall under the statute of limitations - a lawsuit is filed in court at any time. However, if the issue of paternity is being resolved in relation to a child who is already 18 years old, then it is necessary to obtain his written consent. If he cannot express his will independently (incapacitated), such consent is given by the guardian.

The plaintiff pays the state fee, the amount of which is 300 rubles, and submits an application with all the necessary documents to the district court at the location of the defendant or at the place of his residence.

During the trial, the court may, at the request of one of the parties to the process or on its own initiative, order a blood test using the method of genetic or genomic fingerprinting, or, more simply, conduct a DNA test to establish paternity.

It should be noted that the court cannot justify its decision only on the results of the DNA examination, since, according to the law, the results of the examination are one of the evidence in the case and must be assessed in aggregate. In addition, none of the evidence has a predetermined force for the court.

Despite this, to date, DNA analysis is the only examination that can give an accurate answer to the question of whether a man is the father of a child. However, its implementation in practice is often complicated by several circumstances:

• Conducting an examination is a rather expensive undertaking.
• Not all regions have medical institutions that are ready to provide their DNA testing services.
• Long wait for results.

Not all judicial situations, despite the accuracy of the result, require a DNA examination. In some cases, for example, it will be enough to conduct an ordinary medical examination, which will prove that a citizen cannot be the father of a child, since he does not have the ability to conceive.

Moreover, if the child was born between 10/01/1968 and 02/28/1996, then the requirements of the Code of Marriage and Family of the RSFSR will apply to the evidence presented in court. According to this normative act, the results of the DNA examination will not have legal significance if other mandatory evidence has not been presented.

Another situation worthy of consideration is when a citizen does not appear for an examination or does not provide the necessary biological material. In this case, the court also cannot conclude that the citizen confirms the fact of paternity by his failure to appear. It is necessary, first of all, to find out the reasons for the absence.

Thus, the appointment of an examination is made by the court not only in accordance with the requirements of the law, but also taking into account the materials of a particular case and the provisions of the applicable regulatory act.

Acknowledgment of paternity in court: what you need to know?

After the parties receive the court decision in their hands and it comes into force, it is necessary to complete the case to determine paternity by going to the registry office.

The appropriate is written about the establishment of the fact of paternity. You can fill it in:

• mother/father of the child;
• guardian (custodian);
• a child who is 18 years of age;
• citizen who took the child as a dependent.

The application shall be accompanied by a court decision on the establishment of paternity or on the establishment of the fact of recognition of paternity, the applicant's passport and the child's birth certificate.

If the interested person decides to apply to the registry office through a representative, then a power of attorney for the right to carry out such actions by the latter is also attached to the required package of documents.

For the state registration of the fact of paternity and the subsequent issuance of a birth certificate, the applicant pays a state duty in the amount of 350 rubles.

The certificate is issued on the day of application.

Legal consequences of establishing paternity in court

Article 47 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation provides that all legal relations between parents and children must be based on the fact of the birth of children from specific parents. This fact is determined in the manner prescribed by law. That is, it does not matter whether the parents are registered or not. If the fact of paternity is established, this is the basis for the emergence of mutual rights / obligations.

Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that children born out of wedlock, after establishing the fact of paternity, have equal rights with children of the same father who were born in wedlock.

Support for illegitimate children, enshrined by the legislator in the Family Code, is necessary due to the fact that every year there are more and more of them.

Establishing paternity in court and collecting alimony

Together with the filed claim for the establishment of paternity in court, a claim related to the recovery of alimony may be presented.

In this case, everything is interconnected: if the court satisfies the claim for the establishment of paternity, then the payment of alimony is also assigned to the father. Alimony is awarded from the day the claim is filed.

It should be remembered that in this case, the recovery of alimony for previous periods is not possible, since at that time the citizen was not yet recognized as the father of the child.

In accordance with Article 81 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, alimony for the maintenance of children under the age of 18 can be recovered in the following amounts:

• for 1 child - ¼ of the father's income;
• for 2 children - 1/3;
• for 3 or more - ½.

The decision of the court on the recovery of alimony is subject to immediate execution.

Thus, the procedure for establishing paternity in court is not particularly difficult. The main thing in this case is to decide on the regulatory legal act that regulates this issue: if the child was born on March 1, 1996 and later, then the rules of the Family Code of the Russian Federation apply; if before 03/01/1996 and not earlier than 10/01/1968, the provisions of Article 48 of the Code on Marriage and Family of the RSFSR shall apply.

In the Russian Federation, there is a presumption of paternity, which assumes that if a child was born in a legal marriage or within 300 days after the dissolution of the marriage / death of the husband, then the mother's spouse is recognized as his father. This may be challenged in court.

If the child was born to an unmarried woman, then the man can be officially recognized as the father of her child. This procedure is called the establishment of paternity and its result is the emergence of relations between the child and the father, which are regulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Of course, the establishment of paternity imposes on the man the responsibility for the maintenance and upbringing of the child. Establishing paternity imposes on the child the rights and obligations regulated by the Family Code. In the event of the death of the father, the child receives all the rights guaranteed by law - to an inheritance, to a pension for the loss of a breadwinner, to social assistance.

The law provides for two ways to establish the paternity of a child - forced (in court) and voluntary. regulated by the following legal acts:

• Family Code of the Russian Federation;
• Law of the Russian Federation "On acts of civil status".

Voluntary establishment of paternity is dealt with by registry offices.

Grounds for voluntary establishment of paternity

The basis for the voluntary establishment of paternity is an application submitted to the registry office and signed by the parents of the child. The signature of a man means that he recognizes himself as the father of the child and undertakes to participate in his future life. The mother's signature means that she confirms that this person is the father of her child. According to the law, a man who has not reached the age of majority can also recognize himself as the father of a child.

In exceptional cases, which will be discussed below, paternity can be established without the consent of the mother.

Paternity can be established:

• at the time of registration of the newborn in the registry office. In this case, a joint declaration of paternity is required from the man and woman, and the corresponding entry will be immediately made in the birth certificate of the child;
• after some time. In this case, a general statement is also required - on its basis, corrections will be made to the child's documents: in the column "father", instead of a dash, the name of the man will be entered. The surname and patronymic of the child can also be changed.

Voluntary establishment of paternity does not have a statute of limitations, that is, the father can recognize the child as his after any time period after birth, up to adulthood. When a child reaches the age of 18, the procedure changes.

Conditions for the voluntary establishment of paternity

A prerequisite for the voluntary establishment of paternity is the full legal capacity of a man. The application filed by the man's guardian/custodian has no legal force, since this declaration of will is of a personal nature.

A man cannot establish paternity if there is already an entry in the "father" column. In this case, the paternity of the other man must first be established. If the court finds that the person to whom the child is registered is not his parent, paternity can be established.

Establishment of paternity of an adult person is carried out exclusively with his consent. If the person in respect of whom they want to establish paternity is recognized by the court as incompetent, the consent of the guardian is required.

Documents to establish paternity before or after the birth of a child

To start the procedure establishing paternity on a voluntary basis, the man and mother of the child must apply to the registry office at the place of registration or at the place of residence (if these addresses differ) and provide the following documents:

1. identity cards;
2. joint application (if for some reason this is not possible, the father and mother write two different applications);
3. birth certificate of the child (in the event that some time has passed between the registration of the child and the establishment of paternity);
4. a certificate from the maternity hospital (if paternity will be established simultaneously with the registration of the baby);
5. check for payment of state duty;

How is the process of establishing paternity

A joint declaration of father and mother is required to establish paternity. If this is not possible due to valid reasons (illness, long-term departure), two separate applications are allowed. Parents must apply in person. If personal presence due to objective reasons is impossible, an application with a notarized signature is allowed.

If the establishment of paternity takes place simultaneously with the registration of the baby, the couple is issued a birth certificate, in which information about the father is entered. If there was a time gap between registration and recognition, a new set of documents for the child is issued.

It is also possible to establish paternity prior to the birth of the child. This is possible if, due to valid reasons, the father cannot submit an application after the baby is born (for example, he will have a long business trip). In this case, the following documents are required:

• confirmation of the existence of circumstances that do not allow the parent to personally submit an application;
• mother's pregnancy certificate;
• joint (or separate) statement of father and mother.

Application for voluntary establishment of paternity

In the application for voluntary paternity test you will need to provide the following information:

1. Full name of parents and their passport data;
2. citizenship and nationality;
3. registration;
4. information about the child (full name, gender, date and place of birth, birth certificate number, if any);
5. if in the period between the registration of the child and the recognition of paternity, the parents entered into a marriage, it is required to provide the number of the corresponding certificate;
6. Full name, which the child will receive after registration.

Additionally, you will need to provide the following documents:

• copies of passports of both parents
• a copy, if any;
• a copy of the marriage registration certificate, if any;
• a copy of the receipt for payment of the state duty;
• if paternity is established in advance - a copy of the certificate from the maternity hospital and a document certifying the reason;
• if paternity is established with respect to an adult person - his/her written consent / written consent of the guardian.

Establishment of paternity unilaterally

As a general rule, paternity can be established only with the consent of the mother, however, there are a number of cases in which the unilateral will of the father is allowed:

1. the death of the mother or the recognition of her dead in a judicial proceeding;
2. recognition of her legally incompetent;
3. recognition of her missing;
4. deprivation of mother's parental rights.

In these cases, to recognize paternity, a father’s statement, a certificate of the reason for the unilateral declaration of will (a copy of the court decision in the event of declaring the deceased or declaring incapacitated; a certificate from the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the last place of residence of the mother; a certificate from the guardianship and guardianship authorities on deprivation of parental rights).

Unilateral recognition of paternity is possible only with the consent of the guardianship and guardianship authority, that is, an appropriate certificate will need to be attached to the required document package.

Establishing paternity after the death of a father

After the death of the father, his relationship with the child can only be established in court. In this case, events can develop as follows:

• there is evidence that during the life of the deceased recognized the child. In this case, there will be no problems with establishing a family relationship;
• in life, the deceased did not recognize the child or there is no evidence that this was done. In this case, circumstantial evidence will have to be collected: testimonies of witnesses, representatives of authorized bodies, documents, photographs, etc.

When the paternity of the deceased is established, the child receives the rights of children after the death of the parent: pension, social assistance, etc.

Renunciation of paternity

A man who has recognized a child can no longer withdraw his application and refuse recognition.

If the man is not the biological parent, recognition cannot be waived either. An exception is the case if a man recognized the child as his own, not knowing that he was not his parent.

Establishing paternity can be a voluntary procedure, or executed on the basis of a court decision. The court verdict gives the mother the right to receive child support from the father of the child. The father, mother or guardians of the child can file a claim with the court. Paternity can be established both during the life of the parent and after his death. For children, this is, at times, a decisive factor in the event of disputes over inheritance.

The procedure for the voluntary establishment of paternity in the registry office

According to the laws adopted in our country, the father of a child without additional evidence is recognized:

1. A man who is married to the child's mother.
2. The ex-husband of the mother of the child, provided that the marriage at the time of filing the application was terminated by the spouses no earlier than 300 days ago.
3. If the parents of the child are not officially husband and wife.

Voluntary paternity is when the man agrees to recognize himself as the father of the child without any trial. In this case, the right to establish paternity is secured by a legal act.

The need to establish paternity on a voluntary basis often arises due to the fact that there is no official marriage between a man and a woman. At the same time, they had a joint child. And, even if the actual father provides the child financially, fully participating in his upbringing, he is not considered a father, since he has There is no marriage stamp in the passport.

In order for a man to be officially recognized as the father of this child, he must, without fail, along with the mother of the baby, appear at the registry office and submit a special form. After passing the procedure for establishing paternity, he not only actually, but also legally becomes the father of his son or daughter.

Difficulties arise when, for objective reasons, for example, in connection with the death of the mother, it is impossible for two people to come to the registry office together. In this case, the father will have to through the court to prove their direct relationship with the child to legally recognize his paternity. Alternatively, he can arrange custody of the baby. Only after that, the father will be able to take the child to him and continue to raise him. And this is despite the fact that the man, by his own will, admits that he is the father of the baby, and is ready to take care of him.

The procedure for the voluntary establishment of paternity begins with the submission to the registry office common single application from unmarried father and mother . The application must be submitted either at the place of registration of one of the parents, or at the place where the birth certificate of the baby was received. If physically both parents cannot be present in one place in order to draw up a general application for establishing paternity in the registry office, two applications are allowed - one from each parent. But those who could not come to the right place on their own must notarize their signature on a personal statement.

An application can be submitted simultaneously with the registration of the birth of a child, or it can be submitted after some time. If the application for establishing paternity is submitted after receiving the birth certificate of the baby, this document should be attached to the application.

Essentially, the positive verdict handed down on the basis of the application:

1. First, it certifies voluntary paternity as a fait accompli.
2. Secondly, it confirms that the mother of the child agrees that this particular man is recognized as the father.

A joint application by the unmarried parents of a child includes the following information:

1. Surnames, first names and patronymics of the mother and father of the child;
2. Citizenship, as well as the place and exact date of birth of each of them;
3. The address where both the mother and father of the baby live;
4. It is necessary to enter in the application the data of the documents of the parents proving their identity;
5. Surname, name and patronymic of the child both before and after the establishment of paternity;
6. His gender and date of birth;
7. The place where the child was born;
8. Details of the document on his birth, issued by the registry office, if paternity is established after the birth of the baby;
9. Data of marriage registration certificate if the parents got married after they had a joint child.

Parents indicate their nationality in the application at will!

The law provides for the possibility of announcing the voluntary paternity of unmarried parents before the birth of a child, in advance, during the period of a woman's pregnancy. Such an application, which precedes the birth of a child, is accepted in the presence of grounds in the form :

1. A medical certificate confirming that the woman is pregnant.
2. Special circumstances that make it difficult to file an application after the baby is born, for example, if one of the parents is seriously ill, or must go on a long business trip, or change their place of residence.

In this case, the application remains in the registry office until the birth of the baby. Immediately after his birth, voluntary paternity is certified according to the previously submitted consent of both parents, and the child receives the first name, patronymic and surname that were specified in the application.

If at the time of the child's birth application was withdrawn by any of his parents, the civil status department will simply annul the document, deeming it no longer valid!

If the child was not born at the place where the preliminary application was submitted , and elsewhere, then by law, voluntary paternity must legally be allowed where the baby was born. In this case, the application is sent by the registry office to a new address.

Voluntary fatherhood is prohibited by law for persons who are recognized as incapacitated because they suffer from mental illness!

An application for voluntary paternity from a legally incompetent guardian will also not be considered positively.

At the same time, minors who are recognized as legally incompetent will be recognized by law as fathers in case of their good will to do so.

How to File a Petition to Establish Paternity in Court - Sample Complaint

When the unmarried father and mother of the child cannot agree among themselves on the voluntary recognition of paternity, they have the right to go to court.

The following can demand the establishment of paternity in court:

1. The child himself, when he becomes an adult.
2. His guardians.
3. His parents.

To do this, you need to file a statement of claim to establish paternity of a certain form.

To establish paternity, a sample statement of claim looks like this:

Judicial establishment of paternity - the procedure for establishing paternity and the necessary documents

During the judicial establishment of paternity, the judicial authorities will without fail require proof that this particular man is the father of the child.

As evidence, the court accepts authentic and reliable:

1. Written and material evidence, for example, photographs or correspondence between parents.
2. Conclusions of the conducted examinations.
3. Testimony of both interested parties and eyewitnesses.
4. Video or audio recordings.

An application submitted by the baby's father to the accounting department at the place of work for financial assistance in connection with the birth of a child is also a weighty argument for the court!

If, despite the entire evidence base, the man refuses to establish paternity, the court appoints an examination.

How is a paternity test carried out - the process of establishing paternity by DNA

Paternity testing is a very expensive procedure. In addition, it psychologically traumatizes its participants and requires a large expenditure of physical and mental strength. Therefore, before deciding on a genetic examination, you need to get her appointed by the courts .

When a man wishes to voluntarily prove his paternity, and for this he submits the tests required for the study, the received a positive result may be useless if the examination was not initiated by a court decision!

Science has established that a child receives one half of its DNA from the mother and the other half from the father. To establish paternity by DNA in a child and his alleged dad scraping of epithelial cells , which are located on the inner surface of the cheek. Then specialists analyze from 16 to 25 different genetic markers.

DNA testing, establishes paternity with an accuracy of 99.9 percent. This study gives a negative answer. with 100% accuracy . Blood and saliva tests confirm genetic paternity as accurately as possible. Based on these data, the court issues a verdict that paternity is proven, or that it is refuted by the court.

When the court has made a decision to conduct a genetic examination to establish paternity, the legal authorities have the right to take the material for analysis from all persons involved in the process right in the courtroom!

DNA is the most reliable way to prove one of two things:

1. That the man is definitely the father of the child.
2. That he absolutely cannot be.

Can a father file a petition to establish paternity with the court or refuse to establish paternity?

In the case where a man, not being legally the mother's husband at the time of the child's birth, wishes to acknowledge his paternity, and he encounters resistance from the mother of the child or his guardians, the alleged the father can file a lawsuit in court to recognize his father as the father of a minor child, provided :

1. That the man is not mentally incompetent.
2. If the child's mother is dead.
3. When my mother was deprived of parental rights.
4. If she is legally recognized as missing.
5. In the case when the mother of the baby was declared incompetent due to a mental disorder.

In these cases, the paternity suit filed by the alleged father must be accompanied by documents confirming these circumstances .

Unfortunately, the joy of having a child in a family is sometimes overshadowed by not very pleasant circumstances. One of these may be the unwillingness of the father of the child not only to take part in the life of the child, but even to recognize his paternity. The most civilized way to achieve the latter is to establish paternity through the courts.

It is worth mentioning right away that the need to go to court to establish (or challenge) paternity may arise not only in the case of a negligent father. These may also be:

• the birth of a child by a woman who is in a registered marriage, but not from her husband (in this case, the application to the court is submitted by the spouse as an interested person, the mother is not entitled to do this);
• death of the mother, recognition of her incompetent, impossibility to establish her location, deprivation of her parental rights (provided that in this situation the guardianship and guardianship authority did not give the applicant consent to establish paternity).

Applications for the establishment of paternity are considered in the order of action proceedings (Chapters 12 - 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). However, in the event of the death of the person whose paternity is to be established, an application for establishing the fact of paternity, while the case is considered in the order of special proceedings (as the establishment of a fact of legal significance, Chapter 28 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). We advise you not to confuse these two types of legal proceedings, since in case of an error, the court will leave your application without consideration.

Any of the interested persons, including the mother of the child, the father of the child, the guardian of the child, the spouse of the woman who gave birth to the child, or the child himself, if he has reached the age of 18, can apply to the court.

The statement of claim can be filed both at the place of residence (stay) of the defendant (Article 28 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), and at the place of residence (stay) of the plaintiff (Article 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). This category of cases has jurisdiction only to district courts - they will consider the application as a court of first instance.

When submitting an application, it is necessary to pay a state fee in the amount of 200 rubles, as for a non-property claim (Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

How to call for "genetic responsibility"

A wide range of evidence can be presented to the court as evidence, directly or indirectly confirming paternity. These can be documents: personal correspondence, including emails, audio, video recordings, photographs. In addition, testimonies are taken into account. Thus, witnesses can confirm the recognition of paternity by a man if, in the presence of third parties, he talked about the child, purchased children's things, transferred money for the maintenance of the child, visited the mother of the child in the hospital, etc. And finally, it can be an examination using the method of genetic fingerprinting - perhaps the main evidence that is used to determine paternity (provided that the defendant is alive at the time the case is considered by the court).

As a rule, a genetic examination is appointed by the court at the very initial stage of the case. At the same time, the court obliges the participants in the process to ensure its conduct: on the appointed day, the child and father must appear at the medical institution indicated by the court. For the duration of the examination, the court usually suspends the proceedings on the basis of Art. 216 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. However, it is not uncommon for one of the parties to evade participation in the examination. But do not rush to get upset - fears that the case will definitely end in failure may be groundless.

The fact is that the court has the right to recognize the fact, for the clarification of which the examination was appointed, established or refuted (Article 79 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation). The court looks at which party and for what reasons did not appear for the examination, and also decides on the significance of the conclusion of the examination, based on the evidence in the case in their entirety. It is important to note that, despite the fact that the expert opinion is "stable" evidence, it does not have a predetermined force for the court, and the court will evaluate it in conjunction with all the others.

In case of doubts about the objectivity of the results of the examination, the judge also has the right to appoint it again, entrusting it to be carried out by another expert or an expert institution.

Alimony and more

If the court made a decision to establish paternity (or the fact of such in the event of the death of the father), and it entered into force, then subsequently the person concerned has the right:

• apply to the registry office with an application for a birth certificate, which will contain the data of both parents;
• apply to the court with a claim for the recovery of alimony, if this requirement was not presented simultaneously with the requirement to establish paternity;
• on behalf of the child to claim the rights to hereditary property.

From a legal point of view, paternity is not a status, but an obligation for the father to bear the parental duty, according to which he is obliged to participate in ensuring the life of his child. That is why not all men who have become parents recognize this fact.

To protect the rights of the child, it is possible to legally order the father to acknowledge paternity. But the law not only obliges, it also helps to defend the father's right to be the legal parent of his child in a situation where the mother, for one reason or another, does not want to recognize him as such.

The mechanism for filing a claim is strictly regulated. To understand what you will face during the hearing, you need to know the procedure for establishing paternity.

According to Article 49 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, in order for the fact of paternity to be legally established, the following conditions must be met:

• The child's parents must not be legally married;
• The parents jointly or the father alone (in cases stipulated by legal acts) did not submit an application to the registry office to establish paternity on a voluntary basis. It is worth noting that both parents have the right to file a claim in this case. Mother, if the father does not want to acknowledge the fact of paternity and did not appear at the registry office to register the child. And the father, if the mother of the child denies him the right to be a legal parent and does not want to submit an application to the registry office together with him;
• The father does not have a document issued to him by the guardianship and guardianship authorities confirming the fact of voluntary recognition of paternity (issued according to the application of the father). It is issued by authorized bodies if the state of incapacity of the mother is registered, or she is deprived of parental rights, or because of her death, and also if it is not possible to establish the location of the mother, and if the father has submitted an application of the appropriate form to the registry office.

When asserting paternity rights, one must consider whether the mother of the child is married to another man, and whether he is recorded as the father on the birth certificate. If the mother filed documents with the legal spouse at the registry office and has a corresponding entry in the certificate, the father must dispute paternity, and not establish it.

To do this, the law provides for separate legal proceedings, when two fathers act as parties disputing the rights to a child: biological and official.

On the other hand, when after a while it turns out that the father, officially recorded in the child's metrics, is not biological to him, it is also necessary to sue to challenge paternity. At the same time, both the official father and the mother of the child on their own initiative can dispute.

And also, if a child has reached the age of majority and learns that his biological father is not the legal parent, he also has the right to sue to challenge paternity. In addition to these cases, the child's guardians may act as the disputing party, and in the event of the incapacity of the parent disputing paternity, the parent's guardian.

Father identification procedure and documents

At the first stage of establishing paternity, it is necessary to prepare and submit a statement of claim to the court, attaching the necessary supporting documents to it. To make a legally correct application, it is better to seek legal advice. Qualified lawyers will also help in finding missing documents, and in non-standard cases, they will indicate which documents need to be provided additionally.

Documents to be submitted along with the claim:

• a copy of the claim (sent to the defendant);
• birth certificate of the child (photocopy);
• a photocopy of the receipt or the original receipt of payment of the state duty for the consideration of the case in court;
• a certificate from the local registration authorities confirming the place of residence of the child, in the case when the mother lives elsewhere and files a claim at the place of registration;
• documents confirming paternity, in the original and with attached photocopies (sent to the defendant), testimonies of witnesses.

After the submission of documents, the court considers them within 5 working days. Based on the results of the reconciliation, a preliminary hearing is scheduled, the date and time of which the judicial authorities notify both the plaintiff and the defendant.

At the preliminary hearing, the court decides whether the documentary base is provided in full enough to justify recognizing the defendant as the father of the child. If the evidence is insufficient, the court recognizes the need for an examination.

After all the evidence has been prepared, the main hearing is held, which makes a decision on the establishment of paternity.

Examination and proof of paternity

As a rule, a genetic examination is ordered after a preliminary hearing, but may be required to be carried out after the main process if the father can prove or appeal the lack of supporting documents.

However, if the father refuses medical confirmation of paternity, the court cannot force him to do so. At the same time, the refusal is regarded in favor of the mother and this moment is taken into account when making a decision. The costs of the examination in case of a positive decision of the court shall be borne by the defendant.

Specialized medical institutions are required to conduct an examination. From a medical point of view, examination is a blood test (genetic fingerprinting) DNA typing.

Without examination, the main evidence base will be any confirmation of the closeness between the mother of the child and the defendant: letters, telegrams, Internet correspondence, joint photos and videos during the conception period. Also, proofs of the fact that he has a child can serve as receipts for postal items, money orders, certificates, extracts from a personal file.

If the parties have witnesses who are able to confirm the fact of communication and meetings between the plaintiff and the defendant or refute it, their testimony is also attached to the case and can serve as the basis for proving the correctness of the parties.

Algorithm of action to establish paternity after a court decision

Having received a court decision in hand, the interested party must complete the procedural act of establishing paternity by submitting an application to the registry office, where the plaintiff will be issued a birth certificate with the indicated data on the parent of the child.

The following relatives of the child may apply for a birth certificate:

• mother or father;
• guardian (custodian) for minors;
• personally the child himself, if he is 18 years old;
• any citizen who provides proper care for a dependent child.

The application is issued by the registry office on the basis of a court decision, to which originals and copies of documents proving the identity of the applicant and the child (passport, birth certificate) must be attached. When submitting an application through a person officially representing the interests of the applicant, it is necessary to provide a power of attorney certified by a notary, which indicates the right of the person to carry out such actions.

When submitting an application to the registry office, the interested person will have to pay a state fee for registering the fact of paternity and for issuing a birth certificate (200 rubles). A certificate is issued on the day of application.

Collection of alimony

The plaintiff, submitting documents for consideration of the case in court, has the right, together with the requirement to establish paternity, to make a claim to the defendant also for the payment of alimony in the amount prescribed by law.

At the same time, two points in the statement of claim are closely related according to the results of the court decision. As a rule, always, if the first paragraph on the recognition of paternity is satisfied, then the second requirement will not be denied to the plaintiff. If the court decides in favor of the defendant, then the second requirement for the payment of alimony to the plaintiff will be denied.

The accrual of alimony will be awarded to the defendant from the day the statement of claim is filed with the court, where a clause with the corresponding requirement must be present. With a positive decision, the recovery of alimony must be immediately accepted by the defendant for execution.

The mother of the child needs to understand that the court cannot force the father to pay alimony before the filing period, since until that moment the father of the child was not legally recognized as such, therefore, you need to remember this and file a lawsuit to establish paternity as early as possible.

The amount of alimony for children until they reach the age of 18 is established in accordance with the Family Code of the Russian Federation (Article 81) and is collected from the defendant as a percentage of the amount of his official income:

• 1 child - 25%;
• 2 children - 30%;
• 3 children or more - 50% of the father's income.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the procedure for filing an application to the court to establish paternity in standard situations does not cause any contradictions. The main thing when submitting documents is to correctly indicate all the regulations, referring to their articles. So, for children born after March 1, 1996, it is necessary to be guided by the legislative framework of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.