Bill Text: IN SB0154 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Custody after execution of paternity affidavit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-05 - First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary [SB0154 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2010-SB0154-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 16-37-2-2.1; IC 31-14-13-1.
Synopsis: Custody after execution of paternity affidavit. Provides that
if a paternity affidavit is executed, the mother has primary physical
custody of the child and the man who is identified as the father has
parenting time in accordance with the parenting time guidelines unless
another determination is made by a court. (Current law provides that a
mother has sole custody unless another custody determination is made
by a court.)
Effective: July 1, 2010.
January 5, 2010, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
family law and juvenile law.
(1) a hospital; or
(2) a local health department.
(b) Immediately before or after the birth of a child who is born out of wedlock, a person who attends or plans to attend the birth, including personnel of all public or private birthing hospitals, shall:
(1) provide an opportunity for:
(A) the child's mother; and
(B) a man who reasonably appears to be the child's biological father;
to execute an affidavit acknowledging paternity of the child; and
(2) verbally explain to the individuals listed in subdivision (1) the legal effects of an executed paternity affidavit as described in subsection (g).
(c) A paternity affidavit must be executed on a form provided by the state department. The paternity affidavit is valid only if the affidavit is executed as follows:
(1) If executed through a hospital, the paternity affidavit must be completed not more than seventy-two (72) hours after the child's birth.
(2) If executed through a local health department, the paternity affidavit must be completed before the child has reached the age of emancipation.
(d) A paternity affidavit is not valid if it is executed after the mother of the child has executed a consent to adoption of the child and a petition to adopt the child has been filed.
(e) A paternity affidavit executed under this section must contain or be attached to all of the following:
(1) The mother's sworn statement asserting that a person described in subsection (b)(1)(B) is the child's biological father.
(2) A statement by a person identified as the father under subdivision (1) attesting to a belief that he is the child's biological father.
(3) Written information furnished by the child support bureau of the department of child services:
(A) explaining the effect of an executed paternity affidavit as described in subsection (g); and
(B) describing the availability of child support enforcement services.
(4) The Social Security number of each parent.
(f) A woman who knowingly or intentionally falsely names a man as the child's biological father under this section commits a Class A misdemeanor.
(g) A paternity affidavit executed under this section:
(1) establishes paternity;
(2) gives rise to parental rights and responsibilities of the person described in subsection (e)(2), including:
(A) the right of the child's mother or the Title IV-D agency to obtain a child support order against the person, which may include an order requiring the provision of health insurance coverage; and
(B) reasonable parenting time rights unless another determination is made by a court in a proceeding under IC 31-14-14; and
(3) may be filed with a court by the department of child services.
However, if a paternity affidavit is executed under this section, unless
another determination is made by a court in a proceeding under
IC 31-14, the child's mother has sole legal primary physical custody
of the child, unless another custody determination is made by a court
in a proceeding under IC 31-14. and the person described in
subsection (e)(2) has parenting time in accordance with the
parenting time guidelines adopted by the Indiana supreme court.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, a man who is a party to a
paternity affidavit executed under this section may, within sixty (60)
days of the date that a paternity affidavit is executed under this section,
file an action in a court with jurisdiction over paternity to request an
order for a genetic test.
(i) A paternity affidavit that is properly executed under this section
may not be rescinded more than sixty (60) days after the paternity
affidavit is executed unless a court:
(1) has determined that fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact
existed in the execution of the paternity affidavit; and
(2) at the request of a man described in subsection (h), has
ordered a genetic test, and the test indicates that the man is
excluded as the father of the child.
(j) Unless good cause is shown, a court shall not suspend the legal
responsibilities under subsection (g)(2)(A) of a party to the executed
paternity affidavit during a challenge to the affidavit.
(k) The court may not set aside the paternity affidavit unless a
genetic test ordered under subsection (h) or (i) excludes the person who
executed the paternity affidavit as the child's biological father.
(l) If a paternity affidavit is not executed under subsection (b), the
hospital where the birth occurs or a person in attendance at the birth
shall inform the child's mother of services available for establishing
paternity.
(m) Except as provided in this section, if a man has executed a
paternity affidavit in accordance with this section, the executed
paternity affidavit conclusively establishes the man as the legal father
of a child without any further proceedings by a court.
(1) IC 12-26 (involuntary commitment of a child).
(2) IC 29-3 (guardianship and protective proceedings under the probate code).
(3) IC 31-14 (custody of a child born outside of a marriage).
(4) IC 31-34 (child in need of services).
(5) IC 31-37 (delinquent child).
(6) IC 35-46 (offenses against the family).
(7) IC 35-50 (criminal sentences).
(8) An order by a court that has jurisdiction over the child.
