Parentage, Parental Rights, and Adoption Flashcards
nonmarital children
born to an unwed mother
What are the constitutional limits on discrimination between martial and non marital children?
Subject to intermediate scrutiny
Examples of SCOTUS holdings
* Nonmarital children cannot be precluded from inheriting from fathers
* Statutes of limitations of paternity suits are discriminatory
* Nonmarital children have the same right to child support
* Government benefits may not be denied to nonmarital children based on parentage status
* Nonmarital children may not be precluded from suing for parent’s wrongful death
* Federal government can set immigration preferences to marital children
presumption of parentage
Mother’s husband presumed father if child born w/in 300 days of marriage termination of marriage
Rebuttal requires clear and conving evidence
paternity disestablishment
Most states refuse to terminate parent-child relaitonship even if husband can prove he is not the father
When is a child the lawful child of his unwed father?
- Parents are married after child’s birth
- Father holds the child out as his biological child
- Father consents to be named of birth certificate
- Father formally acknowledges paternity
- Court order establishes paternity
rights of an unwed father
Right to custody if they demonstrate paternal responsibility (acknowledgement of paternity + supervision, education, protection, care, support)
If mother wants to adopt out child and father wants child, father must be willing to assume custody and not merely do so to block adoption
If does not legally recongize child, may be precluded from tort recovery for death of child
paternity suits
- May be brought by child, mother, or state
- Once paternity is established, duty of support attaches and father can assert rights, child can seek to inherity
- Statute of limitation is at least 18 years (tolled during minority)
- States vary on level of evidence
Citizenship of Child Born Abroad to Umarried American Parent
- American mother: granted citizenship automatically
- American father: formal process required
termination of parental rights
Standard: clear and convincing evidence
Requires due process
Grounds for Terminating Parental Rights
- Infliction of serious phyical harm
- Abandonment
- Neglect and deprivation
- Severe mental illness or retardation
- Parental unfitness
States really disfavor termination of parental rights
Requirements for Adoption
- Termination of natural parent’s rights
- Creation of new parental rights
- Consent of adoptee
- Home studies, investigation, and court approval
- Payment of money prohibited (except for medical costs)
Consequences of Adoption
- New birth certificate
- Termination of biological parents’ rights and obligations
- Creation of rights and obligations to new parents
- In some states, child may still inherit bio parents
