Paternity & Parentage Recognition

Legal parentage determines a child's surname, nationality, inheritance rights and entitlement to maintenance. Where the parents were not married at the time of birth, that link has to be formally established rather than assumed.

Wise Counsel assists parents in establishing or disputing legal parentage and in correcting the child's civil status records.

What we help with

• Advising on the procedure to recognise a father, mother or child
• Voluntary recognition where both parents agree
• Court proceedings where parentage is disputed
• Advising on DNA evidence and how it is treated by the authorities
• Recognition where one parent is a foreign national
• Correcting or supplementing the child's birth registration
• Consequences for the child's surname, nationality and inheritance rights
• Related claims for child maintenance following recognition

Establishing parentage early protects the child's rights, particularly to nationality and inheritance. Delay makes the evidence harder to assemble.