Legal Question in Family Law in California

There is really no easy way to answer your question. First, In California the general and rebuttable presumption is that when two people are married and a child is born that was conceived during the marriage then the child is a product of the marriage and the husband is presumed to be the father. However, that presumption can be rebutted. The general time period to object to such a presumption is 2 years from the date of birth. An argument can be made that it is two years from the date of discovery but it is rare.

In this situation any number of things could have happened and it is a waste of time to try and guess about what happened. The facts you have provided suggest: your friend was born during a marriage. So the father could have been placed on the birth certificate because of the marriage or because they were still happily married at the time of the birth and he acknowledged and held the child out as his child. It also appears as though something occurred that broke up the marriage within a year of her birth.

Your friend needs to find out what happen. So, I suggest your friend order a copy of her birth certificate. I also suggest she go to the court house where the dissolution took place and take a look at the file and find out what exactly it says and make copies of everything in it. Then she needs to have a serious conversation with her mother.

If there was never an objection to the paternity of the child and two years has past then under the law the man that was married to her mother and is named on the birth certificate is presumed to be her father. That does not mean he is her biological father it just means that under the law he is recognized as her father.

If she would like to contact our office through our web site and find out more about this the web address is www.brianmcginitylaw.com .

Good luck

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