Many lawyers unwittingly overcomplicate father-child paternity proceedings in Nevada by filing petitions to establish paternity which routinely request a determination by genetic testing. Although this is a perfectly reasonable means of conclusively establishing a father’s paternity, there is an easier and far less involved path – and particularly in situations where the parents had an attenuated romantic relationship and/or the father is present for (or present just after) the child’s birth.
Under Nevada law, a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity that is signed by a parent is not required to be ratified by a Nevada court before the declaration is deemed to have the same effect as a judgment or order of a court determining the existence of a parent-child relationship. As a general matter, this acknowledgment may only be rescinded within sixty (60) of signature, and if not rescinded, may not be challenged except on the grounds of fraud, duress, and/or material mistake of fact. In short, unless timely rescinded, a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is almost always binding.
Because the execution of a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is a standard and regular feature of the documentation of a child’s birth in every Nevada hospital, the first thing any lawyer consulted on a paternity case needs to ask the prospective client is: “Have you signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity?” If the alleged father of a child is unsure, the issue is easily resolved by a phone call to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Department of Health.
A rapid determination of paternity by voluntary acknowledgment not only expedites and reduces the cost of paternity proceedings, but it also serves to keep unmarried mothers from asserting the unchallenged, automatic primary physical custody of a minor child under Nevada law, and offers a natural father a competing right to argue for custody.