Are you a mother looking for legal validation or confirmation as to who the father of your child is? Perhaps you’re a father taking the first steps in asserting your father’s rights. If you’ve never been a party to any...

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, declaring that the Constitution protected the right of same-sex couples to marry. This required Arizona courts to reinterpret family law in Arizona in same-sex...

Who may bring a paternity action in Arizona? Can a county attorney bring an action asking the court to determine paternity on his own? In Traphagan v. Superior Court, 666 P.2d 76 (1983) the Arizona Supreme Court considered...

A married man in Arizona is the presumed father of a child born during the marriage. However, another person may bring a paternity action, and the court can order blood testing to make the determination. Can it reject blood...

For many years, it was the tradition for a child born to a married couple to take the surname of the father. Did this tradition give the father a protectable paternity right in Arizona? In Laks v. Laks, 540 P.2d 1277 (Ariz....

An Arizona statute, A.R.S. § 12-631, sets a one-year period that an unmarried woman can bring a paternity suit against a putative father. Does this limitation statute apply to paternity actions brought under other state...

In Arizona in yesteryear, a father had a protected interest in his child having his last name. Is this still the law in Arizona despite the arrival of parenting equality? Does it matter if the child is born to two parents who...

Arizona Recognizes a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity When a child is born to an unmarried mother, she can establish paternity utilizing an acknowledgment of paternity. This document, duly signed and filed, is presumed...

In Arizona, a man whose wife has a child is presumed to be the child’s father. However, he can challenge paternity if he has reason to believe he is not the father. He must act without unreasonable delay in order to avoid...

When a married woman has a child in Arizona, her husband is presumed to be the father. The situation gets complicated if another man claims paternity. Can he file a petition claiming paternity? Must the child be a party with...