A child is considered legitimate if it is the product of a married man and woman. In this case, the father assumes a certain amount of paternal obligations which differ according to each state. Paternity is mainly concerned with the financial responsibilities of the father, usually taking the form of child support.
Paternity is also important in custody cases where the parents vie for ownership of the child.
In some cases, a man might choose to question the paternity of a child to prove that he is not the father in an attempt to deny paternal obligations. Sophisticated testing is now available which can analyze blood samples and determine if a man and child are related. For more information, contact an attorney or child welfare specialist.