Acknowledgment of paternity

The recognition of paternity is automatic in cases where the mother and father are a married couple or linked by another marriage contract and starting from the approval of the Civil Unions, in fact, new legal instruments are made available. According to Art. 250 of the Civil Code, the recognition of a child can take place even if the conception took place out of wedlock. Paternity recognition is obtained through the Juvenile Court in case of refusal of the natural father. The unique recognition takes place through DNA tests, which the father can refuse, since this type of examination cannot be imposed even by a judge, but the refusal to undergo the test is evaluated by the judge pursuant to art. 116 II co. cpc The recognition of paternity and maternity can be given by any means according to the Italian Constitution (Article 30), provided that they are elements recognized by the judge as concordant and coherent, multiple and absolutely univocal. Evidence of recognition of paternity must be judicially declared, therefore with an admissibility assessment procedure by the Juvenile Court, followed by a Sentence issued by the judge. The declaration of relations between the mother and the alleged father cannot be sufficient as proof of paternity, as the Civil Code provides in Art. 269 that motherhood alone is naturally given by the proof of conception and birth. Indeed, the statement alone may not be true, or the mother may have had intercourse with other men. The recognition of paternity of the child can also take place through the refusal of the father to undergo tests such as the DNA test. Beyond what the Civil Code prescribes, the Court of Cassation has allowed the recognition through reached proof and timing coincidence (Sentence 528/2016). The refusal to undergo judicial evidence is a behavior that the judge must take into consideration, as the refusal of the recognition of paternity already has circumstantial value, since not recognizing the natural child excludes from maintenance. The law requires that the parentage itself obliges the maintenance, but not the compensation in case the paternity is discovered many years after the birth. Judgment 528/2016 establishes that awareness of paternity is an essential requirement to contribute to expenses.