Title 15, Title 15 Relations

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Rhode Island Uniform Parentage Act.”

As used in this chapter: (1) “Acknowledged parent” means an individual who has established a parent-child relationship pursuant to article 3 of this chapter. (2) “Adjudicated parent” means an individual who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be a parent …

(a) This chapter applies to an adjudication and determination of parentage in the state of Rhode Island. (b) The court shall apply the law of the state of Rhode Island to adjudicate parentage. (c) This chapter does not create, enlarge, or diminish parental rights or responsibilit…

(a) A proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child shall be maintained in accordance with this chapter and with the family court rules of domestic relations procedure and/or the rules of juvenile proceedings, except that proceedings for orders of parentage, pursuant to § 15-…

(a) Subject to other provisions of this chapter, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may be maintained by: (1) The child; (2) The individual who gave birth to the child unless a court has adjudicated that the individual is not a parent or the individual is a gestational carrier …

(a) Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, an individual filing a proceeding to adjudicate parentage pursuant to this chapter shall give notice of the proceeding to adjudicate parentage to the following: (1) The individual who gave birth to the child unles…

(a) An individual shall not be adjudicated a parent unless the court has personal jurisdiction over the individual. (b) A court having jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual, or the guardian or conservator of the indi…

Venue for a proceeding to adjudicate parentage shall be in the county in which: (1) The child resides or is present or, for purposes of article 7 or 8 of this chapter, is or will be born; (2) Any parent or intended parent resides; (3) The respondent resides or is present if the c…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may be joined with a proceeding for parental rights and responsibilities, parent-child contact, child support, child protection, termination of parental rights, divorce, annul…

(a) In a proceeding under this chapter, the court may issue an interim order for support of a child in accordance with the child support guidelines under § 15-5-16.2 and as established by the family court with respect to an individual who is: (1) A presumed, acknowledged, or adju…

(a) A respondent in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may admit parentage of a child when making an appearance or during a hearing in a proceeding involving the child or by filing a pleading to such effect. An admission of parentage pursuant to this section is different from a…

The court may issue an order adjudicating the parentage of an individual who is in default, provided that: (1) The individual was served with notice of the proceeding; and (2) The individual is found by the court to be the parent of the child based on a preponderance of the evide…

(a) In a proceeding under this chapter, the court shall issue a final order adjudicating whether a person alleged or claiming to be a parent is the parent of a child. (b) A final order under subsection (a) of this section, shall identify the child by name and date of birth. (c) O…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a determination of parentage shall be binding on: (1) All signatories to an acknowledgment form of parentage or denial of parentage, as provided in article 3 of this chapter; and (2) All parties to an adjudicatio…

This state shall give full faith and credit to a determination of parentage and to an acknowledgment of parentage from another state if the determination or acknowledgment is valid and effective in accordance with the law of the other state.

A person may establish parentage by any of the following: (1) Giving birth to the child, except as otherwise provided in article 8 of this chapter; (2) Adoption of the child pursuant to chapter 7 of title 15; (3) An effective voluntary acknowledgment of parentage under article 3 …

Every child has the same rights under law as any other child without regard to the marital status or gender of the parents or the circumstances of the birth of the child.

Unless parentage has been terminated by a court order or an exception has been stated explicitly in this chapter, parentage established under this chapter applies for all purposes, including the rights and duties of parentage under the law.

Provisions of this chapter relating to determination of paternity may apply to determination of maternity as needed to determine parentage consistent with this chapter.

Nothing in this chapter limits the right of a child to bring an action to adjudicate parentage.

(a) In a proceeding to adjudicate competing claims of parentage or challenges to a child’s parentage by two (2) or more persons, the court shall adjudicate parentage in the best interests of the child, based on the following factors: (1) The age of the child; (2) The length of ti…

(a) The following individuals may sign an acknowledgment of parentage to establish parentage of a child: (1) An individual who gave birth to the child; (2) An individual who is the alleged genetic parent of the child; (3) An individual who is an intended parent of the child under…

An acknowledgment of parentage shall be void if, at the time of signing: (1) An individual other than the individual seeking to establish parentage is a presumed parent, unless a denial of parentage in a signed record has been filed with the state registrar for vital records; or …

(a) An individual presumed to be a parent or an alleged genetic parent may sign a denial of parentage only in the limited circumstances set forth in this section. (b) A denial of parentage shall be valid only if: (1) An acknowledgment of parentage by another individual has been f…

(a) Completed forms for acknowledgment of parentage and denial of parentage shall be filed with the state registrar for vital records. (b) An acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage may be signed before or after the birth of a child. (c) An acknowledgment of parentage …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in §§ 15-8.1-307 and 15-8.1-308, a valid acknowledgment of parentage under § 15-8.1-301, filed with the department of vital records, is equivalent to an adjudication of parentage of a child and confers upon the acknowledged parent all of the right…

If an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage is filed at a hospital, contemporaneously with birth, the department of health shall not charge a filing fee.

(a) A signatory may rescind an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage under this chapter by commencing a court proceeding before the earlier of: (1) Sixty (60) days after the effective date of the acknowledgment or denial, as provided in § 15-8.1-304; or (2) The date …

(a) After the period for rescission under § 15-8.1-307 has expired, a signatory of an acknowledgment of parentage or denial of parentage may commence a proceeding to challenge the acknowledgment or denial only: (1) On the basis of fraud, duress, coercion, threat of harm, or mater…

(a) Every signatory to an acknowledgment of parentage and any related denial of parentage shall be made a party to a proceeding to judicially rescind an acknowledgment under § 15-8.1-307(a) or a challenge to the acknowledgment or denial under § 15-8.1-308. (b) For the purposes of…

(a) The department of vital records shall develop an acknowledgment of parentage form and denial of parentage form for execution of parentage under this chapter. (b) The acknowledgment of parentage form shall provide notice of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and t…

The department of health may release information relating to an acknowledgment of parentage under § 15-8.1-301, as set forth in § 23-3-23.

The department of health shall promulgate rules and regulation to implement this chapter.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an individual is presumed to be a parent of a child if: (1) The individual and the individual who gave birth to the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage; (2) The individual and the individual w…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a proceeding to challenge the parentage of an individual whose parentage is presumed under § 15-8.1-401, shall be commenced within two (2) years after the birth of the child. (b) A proceeding to challenge the parentage of …

(a) If two (2) or more conflicting presumptions arise under this chapter, the court shall adjudicate parentage pursuant to § 15-8.1-206. (b) If in a proceeding to adjudicate a presumed parent’s parentage of a child, another individual, in addition to the individual who gave birth…

(a)(1) In a proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of an individual who claims to be a de facto parent of the child, if there is only one other individual who is a parent or has a claim to parentage of the child, the court shall adjudicate the individual who claims to be a de fac…

(a) An individual seeking to be adjudicated a de facto parent of a child shall file a complaint with the family court before the child reaches eighteen (18) years of age. Both the individual seeking to be adjudicated a de facto parent and the child must be alive at the time of th…

This chapter governs procedures and requirements of genetic testing and genetic testing results of an individual to determine parentage and adjudication of parentage based on genetic testing, whether the individual voluntarily submits to testing or is tested pursuant to an order …

Genetic testing shall be of a type reasonably relied upon by scientific and medical experts in the field of genetic testing and performed in a testing laboratory accredited by a national association of blood banks or an accrediting body designated by the secretary of the U.S. Dep…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, in a proceeding pursuant to this chapter to determine parentage, the court shall order the child and any other individual to submit to genetic testing if a request for testing is supported by the sworn statement of a party: (1) Al…

(a) An individual shall be identified as a genetic parent of a child if the genetic testing of the individual complies with this chapter and the results of testing disclose that the individual has at least a ninety-nine percent (99%) probability of parentage as determined by the …

(a) A report of genetic testing shall be in a record and signed under the penalty of perjury by a designee of the testing laboratory. A report made under the requirements of this chapter is self-authenticating. (b) A party in possession of results of genetic testing shall provide…

(a) Unless waived by the parties, a party intending to rely on the results of genetic testing shall do all of the following: (1) Make the test results available to the other parties to the parentage action at least fifteen (15) days prior to any hearing at which the results may b…

The court shall order additional genetic testing upon the request of a party who contests the result of the initial testing. If the initial genetic testing identified an individual as a genetic parent of the child under § 15-8.1-604, the court shall not order additional testing u…

(a)(1) If genetic testing results, pursuant to § 15-8.1-604, exclude an individual as the genetic parent of a child, the court shall find that individual is not a genetic parent of the child and may not adjudicate the individual as the child’s parent on the basis of genetic testi…