Hello, my name is Nick and I am an associate at the Feldstein Family Law Group. In today’s session, we will be talking about parentage, which is when a person is considered a parent to a child for the purposes of child support.

In Ontario, the Children’s Law Reform Act tells us that there are certain presumptions regarding parentage that, if satisfied, automatically constitute a person as a parent. Unless that person can prove otherwise, there is a presumption that a male person should be recognized to be a father of the child.

The Children’s Law Reform Act states that a male person will be considered to be a father to a child in the following circumstances:

1. If he was married to the mother of the child at the time of the birth of the child, they are assumed to be the parent;

2. If he was married to the mother within 300 days of the birth of the child;

3. If he was married the mother after the birth of the child and acknowledges that he is the natural father;

4. If he was cohabiting with the mother in a relationship of some permanence at the time of the birth of the child or the child is born within 300 days after they ceased to cohabit;

5. If he was certified at the child’s birth as the child’s father, under the Vital Statistics Act or a similar Act in another jurisdiction in Canada and lastly;

6. If he is person has been found or recognized in his lifetime by a court in Canada to be the father of the child.

If you are in a circumstance where a party is seeking child support from you, but you are not certain whether you are the biological father of the child, then it is in your best interest to have medical tests completed to determine whether you are the biological father and whether you have an obligation to pay child support.

If you are the mother of a child and the father of the child refuses to pay child support indicating that he is not the father of the child then you may be able to seek the assistance of the Court in order to have blood tests or DNA completed for the purposes of proving parentage.

For more information about parentage and your obligations or entitlement to support arising therefrom, please contact us at 905-581-7222 in order to book a consultation. Thank you for watching! See you next time.