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Ruling: Policy, not DNA, decides competing paternity claims

court decision judge AP
Posted at 6:46 AM, Oct 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-28 09:46:28-04

PHOENIX — An Arizona court says state law comes down in favor of a man who voluntarily acknowledged paternity of a child and not another man shown by DNA results to be the child’s genetic father.

The state Court of Appeals decision Tuesday said Arizona law clearly declares the importance of providing “permanency and stability for a child” and that a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity “creates a presumption of paternity like that arising from a marriage or a birth certificate.”

The decision said Arizona law sets strict limits on legal grounds and time frames for contesting voluntary acknowledgments of paternity and those criteria weren’t met by the man shown by DNA results to be the genetic father.