OAR 137-055-3020: Parentage Establishment Procedures

(1) When a case involves a child who is not yet born, the administrator will take no action to establish parentage or to provide locate services until such time as the child is born. (2)(a) When initiating legal proceedings to establish parentage for a child, the administrator will use ORS chapters 25, 109, and 110. (b) Except for proceedings filed under ORS chapter 109, past support will be established as provided by ORS chapter 25 and OAR 137-055-3220. (3) When the administrator initiates legal proceedings to establish parentage the administrator will file a notification of the initiation of a proceeding to adjudicate parentage with the Center for Health Statistics, if the child was born in this state. (4) When initiating a legal proceeding, the administrator will seek to establish parentage against the person named as the most likely alleged genetic parent except as provided in sections (5) and (6). (5) When parentage is established by presumption under ORS 109.067 and the person who gave birth names one or more persons other than the presumed parent as the alleged genetic parent of the child, the administrator will provide the presumed parent with notice and an opportunity to object. (a) If a written objection is received from the presumed parent within 30 days of the date of the notice, and the child is less than four years old, the administrator will not conduct genetic testing and will file a petition to determine parentage in circuit court. (b) If no written objection is received from the presumed parent within 30 days of the date of the notice, and the child is less than four years old, the administrator will file a petition to determine parentage in circuit court, including a request to conduct genetic testing of the parent who gave birth, the child, and the alleged genetic parent if testing has not already been completed voluntarily prior to filing. (A) If all known alleged genetic parents are excluded by testing or testing cannot be completed, the administrator may seek support from the presumed parent. (B) If an alleged genetic parent is included by testing, the administrator will file an action in circuit court to disestablish the parentage of the presumed parent and establish the parentage of the alleged genetic parent who was included by testing. (c) If a child is four years or older, the administrator may file an action as described in (5)(b) of this rule when: (A) The parent who gave birth or presumed parent can attest that the presumed parent has not lived with the child, has not held the child out as their own, and is not the child’s genetic parent; (B) There is more than one presumed parent; or (C) The parent who gave birth or presumed parent allege and provide evidence that the presumption arose due to fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. (6) Notwithstanding section (5) of this rule, when parentage is established by presumption under ORS 109.067, the administrator will not pursue an action to determine parentage if: (a) The parent who gave birth and presumed parent are still married, cohabiting, and both do not consent to an action to determine parentage; (b) The presumed parent has physical custody of the child and does not consent to an action to determine parentage: or (c) The child is at least four years old and none of the conditions in (5)(c) have been met. (7) When establishing support against a presumed parent, if a party provides proof that they have filed a petition to challenge parentage under ORS 109.067, the administrator will suspend the support action pending the resolution of the petition. (8) Except as provided in Section (6) of this rule, when the parent who gave birth to the child for whom parentage is being established, or other declarant, states that the second genetic parent of the child could be more than one person, the administrator may initiate and action against those persons as provided in OAR 137-055-3060. (9) If a party requests genetic testing in response to a proposed order establishing parentage, it will be treated as a denial of parentage for purposes of ORS 25.511, 25.550 and 25.552. (10) The Oregon Child Support Program will pay the costs of initial genetic testing to determine parentage. (11) If, in response to the initial genetic test results, a party requests additional tests, such request shall be considered an objection to the entry of the order establishing parentage, and the administrator shall order the additional genetic tests. (12) When a party requests additional genetic testing, or contests the results from the initial testing, as provided in ORS 109.193 and 109.195, the following provisions apply: (a) The laboratory selected for additional testing must be a laboratory accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies, or an accrediting body designated by the Oregon Health Authority; and (b) The party making the request must advance the costs of additional testing to the accredited laboratory. (13) pon receipt of a party’s request for additional genetic testing and proof that payment has been advanced to an accredited laboratory, the administrator or the court will order additional testing. (14) If a non-requesting party fails to appear for additional genetic testing, the administrator will take appropriate steps to seek that party’s compliance with the order for additional testing. (15) If a requesting party fails to appear for the additional genetic testing, the administrator may enter an order in accordance with OAR 137-055-3100. (16) The parent who gave birth is a necessary party to an action to establish parentage, regardless of whether the parent who gave birth is an applicant for services or custodian of the child. (a) When the parent who gave birth is not the applicant for services prompting the action to establish parentage, the administrator must serve the proposed order by personal service upon the parent who gave birth, unless they are deceased. If the parent who gave birth cannot be personally served, the administrator shall request permission from the circuit court to serve them by an alternate method as provided in ORCP 7 D(6). (b) If the parent who gave birth cannot be personally served with the proposed order or if the parent who gave birth is deceased, the child support program will not enter an order establishing parentage unless genetic testing to determine parentage has been completed which fails to exclude the alleged genetic parent, and has a probability of parentage of at least 99 and a combined relationship index of 100 to 1. (c) In any action to establish parentage in which the administrator cannot personally serve the parent who gave birth, or when the parent who gave birth is deceased, the child’s legal guardian is a necessary party to the action. If the child does not have a legal guardian, the administrator will request that the court appoint a willing, qualified and suitable person to be a guardian ad litem for the child. If no relative or other person agrees to such appointment, the administrator will request that an attorney be appointed for this purpose.