Husband filed for divorce. He presented DNA test results that he was not the biological father of the child. Both husband and wife knew the minor child was not biologically his. The child had been diagnosed with a particular genetic disease at birth. The parties agreed to stay together as a family. They remained married for eight more years.
The law is that a person has a time limit to file in court to prove he is not the father. The law also provides that a man is presumed to be the father if the child is born or conceived during the marriage. It must be done within two years of when the father knows of facts that are relevant. If the man knew that he was not the father, he had two years to go to court. He did not go to court until eight years after he knew or strongly suspected he was not the father. Too late.
Mother argued in court that it was too late for the husband to file his claim. It was father’s responsibility in court to show certain evidence. He must have obtained knowledge of the relevant facts only within two years of bringing his petition. But, he did know he was not the father within those two years. He waited another six years to file his claim.
The court saw that husband had serious doubts as to whether he was the child’s parent. The genetic disease led to those serious doubts. Those serious doubts started with the child’s birth eight years earlier. The father was now stopped from being able to ask the court to declare him to not be the father of the child.
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