In Alaska, there is a presumption that a husband is the father of a child born during the marriage. However, today numerous couples have children out of wedlock, and children are born to those having extra-marital relationships. This article explores some of the legal issues involving custody of children in such non-traditional families. The first legal issue involving a child may be paternity.
Paternity means fatherhood.
If the parents do not agree as to who the father is, the court must make this determination and issue an order establishing paternity. In order to begin this process, a complaint for paternity must be filed. A mother seeking child support from a father can ask the Child Support Enforcement Division to initiate efforts to have the paternity of children born out of wedlock determined by the court. A father seeking to establish paternity may file his own lawsuit asking the court to allow him to prove that he is the father. Normally, a paternity test is ordered if the parents do not agree about who is the father.