When debating the parentage of a child, the law will presume a person is the parent of a child under certain circumstances. A man is presumed to be a child's father:
-If the child's mother was married at the time the child was born, the husband is assumed to be the father.
- If a man tried to marry the mother of the child, and the child was conceived or born during that time.
- If a man marries the child's mother after it's birth and agrees to have his name on the birth certificate.
-If a man married the child's mother after it's birth and agrees to support the child.
- If a man opens his home to the child willingly and cares fort he child as if it were his own. This situation is called 'parentage by estoppel' and if the man has always treated the child as his own, even if he isn't the biological father, the courts can decide that he is the legal father.
These circumstances above also apply to couples who have registered a domestic partnership after January 2005.
