The Rights of Fathers

"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons." - Johann Schiller

Missouri

Legal Definition of “Father”
Rev. Stat. §§ 210.817; 210.822

‘’Parent and child relationship’’ means the legal relationship existing between a child and his natural or adoptive parents incident to which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges, duties, and obligations. It includes the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship.

A man shall be presumed to be the natural father of a child if:

• He and the child’s natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated.
• Before the child’s birth, he and the child’s natural mother have attempted to marry each other, although the attempted marriage is or may be declared invalid, and:

» If the attempted marriage may be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage or within 300 days after its termination.

» If the marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation.

• After the child’s birth, he and the child’s natural mother have married or attempted to marry each other, although the marriage is or may be declared invalid, and:

» He has acknowledged his paternity of the child in writing filed with the bureau. » With his consent, he is named as the child’s father on the child’s birth certifi cate.

» He is obligated to support the child pursuant to a written voluntary promise or by court order.

• An expert concludes that the blood tests show that the alleged parent is not excluded and that the probability of paternity is 98 percent or higher, using a prior probability of 0.5.

Putative Father Registry
Rev. Stat. § 192.016

The Department of Health and Senior Services shall establish a putative father registry that shall record the names and addresses of:


• Any person adjudicated by a court of this State to be the father of a child born out of wedlock
• Any person who has filed a notice of intent to claim paternity of the child with the registry before or after the birth of a child out of wedlock
• Any person adjudicated by a court of another State or territory of the United States to be the father of an out-of-wedlock child, where a certified copy of the court order has been filed with the registry by such person or any other person
An unrevoked notice of intent to claim paternity of a child may be introduced in evidence by any party, other than the person who filed such notice, in any proceeding in which such fact may be relevant. Lack of knowledge of the pregnancy does not excuse the failure to file a claim of paternity in a timely manner pursuant to § 453.030. Failure to file in a timely manner shall result in the forfeiture of a man’s right to withhold consent to an adoption proceeding unless:

• The person was led to believe through the mother’s misrepresentation or fraud that:
» The mother was not pregnant, when in fact she was.
» The pregnancy was terminated, when in fact the baby was born.
» After the birth, the child died, when in fact the child is alive.

• The person, upon the discovery of the misrepresentation or fraud, satisfied the requirements of § 453.030(3) (b) or (c) within 15 days of that discovery.

Alternate Means to Establish Paternity Rev. Stat. § 210.826
An action may be brought at any time for the purpose of declaring the existence or nonexistence of the father and child relationship presumed under § 210.822(1), by any of the following:

• A child
• The child’s natural mother
• A man presumed to be the child’s father
• A man alleging himself to be a father
• Any person having physical or legal custody of a child for a period of more than 60 days
• The Division of Child Support Enforcement

An action to determine the existence of the father and child relationship with respect to a child who has no presumed father may be brought by:

• The child
• The mother or the person who has legal custody of the child
• Any person having physical or legal custody of a child for a period of more than 60 days
• The Division of Child Support Enforcement
• The personal representative or a parent of the mother if the mother has died
• A man alleging himself to be the father
• The personal representative or a parent of the alleged father if the alleged father has died or is a minor

Required Information Rev. Stat. § 192.016
A person filing a notice of intent to claim paternity of a child or an acknowledgment of paternity shall fi le the acknowledgment affidavit form developed by the State registrar. The form shall include the minimum requirements prescribed by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 652(a)(7).
A person filing a notice of intent to claim paternity of a child shall notify the registry of any change of address.

Revocation of Claim to Paternity Rev. Stat. § 192.016
A person who has filed a notice of intent to claim paternity may at any time revoke a notice of intent to claim paternity previously filed therewith and, upon receipt of such notification by the registry, the revoked notice of intent to claim paternity shall be deemed a nullity nunc pro tunc.

Access to Information
Rev. Stat. §§ 192.016; 453.014(1)
The department shall, upon request and within 2 business days of such request, provide the names and addresses of persons listed with the registry to:

• Any court or authorized agency
• The Division of Family Services of the Department of Social Services
• A licensed child-placing agency
• The child’s parents
• An intermediary, including an attorney, a physician, or a member of the clergy of the parents Such information shall not be divulged to any other person, except upon order of a court for good cause shown.

Child Welfare Information Gateway