PATERNITY: MINNESOTA
Paternity is the statutory process of determining the parentage of a child born outside of marriage. Minnesota statutes grant sole legal and sole physical custody to the mother of a child born outside of marriage. The biological father of such a child has few rights until he has established his paternity in a formal procedure. Even if the father signed the sworn acknowledgment of parentage, he does not actually receive any specific rights except the right to bring a motion for visitation, now referred to as "parenting time". The father's signing of the sworn acknowledgment of parentage does, however, allow the mother of the child and/or the County to collect child support from him.
If a person desires to challenge whether he is the father of a child born within or outside of marriage, he only has a limited time period to do so. A child born to a married couple is presumed to be the child of the husband. There are other situations in which a party is "presumed" to be the father. In these cases, a person must take action quickly if he desires to deny his paternity of the child. The failure to act will leave the presumed father liable for support for the child until the child is no longer eligible. These issues are very fact specific so if you have a question, ask immediately.