Proving Paternity - עמיהוד בורוכוב, משרד עורכי דין

Can a married couple where the wife is not Jewish get permission for paternity testing for a child she bears ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

Yes, providing the family court considers that testing would not be against the child’s good, and that no risk of illegitimacy would be involved. Where the husband and wife are Jewish, courts will not allow paternity testing because it would risk the child being labelled as a bastard , or ‘Mamzer’, in Jewish law.

My husband and I are both Jewish . I have filed him for child maintenance. He says that our child, who is five , is not his, but that of a Christian man with him I had a long affair with. He has threatened to expose all this by D.N.A. testing if I do not agree to reduce the amount claimed drastically. Would the court allow D.N.A. testing at this stage anyway ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

One of the factors influencing the court in deciding whether to recommend D.N.A. testing to establish paternity is the ‘good of the child’ and the possible damage it may cause him/her. This is related to the stigma a child born to a married Jewish woman outside wedlock carries – that of being a bastard (‘mamzer’) or doubtful bastard (‘safek mamzer’).

Can tests to establish paternity be conducted abroad and will their results be acceptable in proceedings for paternity brought by the mother in Israel ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

While tests to establish paternity may be conducted abroad it is doubtful whether their results would be accepted as evidence in court proceedings in Israel. Even if paternity tests are voluntarily conducted in Israel without an order a court here is not bound to accept their findings. Other factors which do not relate to the laws of evidence are involved here.

Can paternity be proved by letters where the alleged father, who has been filed for child maintenance, is a foreign resident living abroad and he cannot or will not come to Israel to undergo medical tests to determine whether he is the father ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

Yes, in exceptional circumstances.

I am single ,in my 30’’s and had an affair with a well-known person in our community. I got pregnant. He tried to pressurize me into having an abortion but I refused. He cut off all contact with me shortly afterwards saying a baby outside wedlock would endanger his reputation and marriage. Now I want to sue him for child maintenance for my baby but am worried that I will fail because I cannot prove he is the father. I know he won’t undergo any tests that could prove paternity – he refused to co-operate with any medical tests during my pregnancy which required samples from the ‘ father’. Can he still be declared the father and be made to support my child if he refuses paternity testing ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

Yes ! A court can declare a person a biological father on the basis of his refusal to undergo D.N.A.testing , in certain circumstances.A few years ago the Beersheva Family Court declared the defendant, the plaintiff’s gynaecologist, to be the father of her child, even though he refused to undergo D.N.A. testing. The defendant claimed that such testing would be likely to ‘harm his good name’ and endanger his marriage, and the family’s honour. These do not constitute ‘reasonable’ grounds for his refusal, the court said. On the contrary , if anyone knew of the case, the tests would ‘clear his name’, otherwise proceedings were behind closed doors and there was a ban on publication of names, it said.

The defendant’s refusal to undergo testing, plus other evidence including records of telephone conversations between the parties , exposed inconsistencies and illogicalities in his testimony, and thus gave preference to the plaintiff’s claims.

How can a single Moslem woman who gets pregnant by a Moslem man get financial support from him for her child ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

By filing him for paternity and child maintenance at the family court.

A single Moslem mother cannot file for these at the Sharaii or Moslem Religious Court. Although the court has jurisdiction over personal matters where all sides are Moslems , Islamic religious law does not recognize paternity outside of marriage. If the two parties are not married then there is no basis in a Moslem Religious Court for a claim for paternity, which must be proved before maintenance can be claimed.

I am unmarried and due to give birth. I know who the father is but we are not in a relationship. I doubt if he will want to be registered as the ‘dad’ . Can I still get maintenance from him ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

Only if paternity is established. Only after he is regarded as the legal father will you be entitled to financial support for him for the baby. If he fails to co-operate, you can bring legal proceedings at the family court for a judgment declaring him to be the father.

A single female friend of mine is desperate to have a baby and has begged me to help her get pregnant. She said she promises not to say I’m the father or to sue me for financial support for the baby. Is this legal or would I be at risk of having to support the child ?

Paternity •Proving Paternity

Such an agreement, whether oral or in writing, would be worthless, and you would clearly be at risk of being filed with a paternity suit and having to support the child. Any promise to free you of all responsibility of paternity or maintenance if you “help” her become a mother has no legal value. Such an agreement would not be “in the child’s good”, runs counter to a child’s rights and is against the public interest. It denies the child its natural right to know who its father is, develop a relationship with him and to be supported by him financially. It would not be considered valid by a court and would not be upheld by one should you be filed for paternity.

Apart from the special position of a sperm bank donor, a man who gets a woman pregnant has to accept responsibility, even if he is asked to “help” her become a mother.

It makes no difference if there is sexual intercourse or not. The family court in Jerusalem held that a man who masturbated into a container to “help” a friend get pregnant had to pay maintenance to the twins born from his sperm, even though he alleged there was an oral agreement to free him of any responsibility.