Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon
If a woman is married and not living with her husband but has another man's baby does that baby legally belong to the husband or to the biological father?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The baby belongs to the mother. The man to whom the mother was married at the time of the child's is deemed and legally presumed to be the child's father, even if they were not living together at the time of the child's birth and even if the husband is really not the child's biological father. This is what the law calls "the marital presumption of patenrity." As a matter of law, husband remains the child's "legal" father until and unless his presumed legal paternity of the child is disestablished by a court proceeding that results or declares his nonpaternity of the child. BUT.... even though the husband is the child's legal father, the baby BELONGS to the mother and not to either her husband nor her boyfriend.
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