Title 14 — Title 14 — Children

Determination of maternity. Provisions of this act relating to determination of paternity apply to determinations of maternity.

Severability clause. If any provision of this act or its application to an individual or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this e…

Free transcript for appeal. If a party is financially unable to pay the cost of a transcript, the court shall furnish on request a transcript for purposes of appeal under this act.

Establishment of parent-child relationship. (a) The mother-child relationship is established between a woman and a child by: (i) The woman's having given birth to the child; (ii) An adjudication of the woman's maternity; or (iii) Adoption of the child by the woman. (b) The father…

No discrimination based on marital status. A child born to parents who are not married to each other has the same rights under the law as a child born to parents who are married to each other.

Consequences of establishment of parentage. Unless parental rights are terminated, a parent-child relationship established under this act applies for all purposes, except as otherwise specifically provided by other law of this state.

(a) Presumption of paternity in context of marriage. A man is presumed to be the father of a child if: (i) He and the mother of the child are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage; (ii) He and the mother of the child were married to each other and the ch…

Acknowledgment of paternity. (a) The mother of a child and a man claiming to be the genetic father of the child may sign an acknowledgment of paternity with intent to establish the man's paternity. (b) An acknowledgment of paternity of a child born in Wyoming may be filed with th…

(a) Execution of acknowledgment of paternity. An acknowledgment of paternity shall: (i) Be in a record; (ii) Be signed, or otherwise authenticated, under penalty for false swearing by the mother and by the man seeking to establish his paternity; (iii) acknowledged: State that the…

Denial of paternity. (a) A presumed father may sign a denial of his paternity. The denial is valid only if: (i) An acknowledgment of paternity signed, or otherwise authenticated, by another man is filed pursuant to W.S. 14-2-605; (ii) The denial is in a record, and is signed, or …

paternity. (B) Been adjudicated to be the father of the Rules for acknowledgment and denial of (a) An acknowledgment of paternity and a denial of paternity may be contained in a single document or may be signed in counterparts, and may be filed separately or simultaneously. If th…

Effect of acknowledgment or denial of paternity. (a) Except as otherwise provided in W.S. 14-2-607 and 14-2-608, a valid acknowledgment of paternity filed with the state office of vital records is equivalent to an adjudication of paternity of a child and confers upon the acknowle…

No filing fee. The state office of vital records shall not charge for filing an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity.

Proceeding for rescission. (a) A signatory may rescind an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity by commencing a proceeding to rescind before the earlier of: (i) Sixty (60) days after the effective date of the acknowledgment or denial, as provided in W.S. 14-2-604; or…

rescission. Challenge after expiration of period for (a) After the period for rescission under W.S. 14-2-607 has expired, a signatory of an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding to challenge the acknowledgment or denial only: (i) of fact; an…

Procedure for rescission or challenge. (a) Every signatory to an acknowledgment of paternity and any related denial of paternity shall be made a party to a proceeding to rescind or challenge the acknowledgment or denial. (b) For the purpose of rescission of, or challenge to, an a…

Ratification barred. A court or administrative agency conducting a judicial or administrative proceeding is not required or permitted to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of paternity.

Full faith and credit. A court of this state shall give full faith and credit to an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity effective in another state if the acknowledgment or denial has been signed and is otherwise in compliance with the law of the other state.

paternity. Forms for acknowledgment and denial of (a) To facilitate compliance with this article, the state office of vital records shall prescribe forms for the acknowledgment of paternity and the denial of paternity. (b) A valid acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternit…

Release of information. The state office of vital records may release information relating to the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity to a signatory of the acknowledgment or denial, to courts and to the Title IV-D agency of this or another state.

Adoption of rules. The state office of vital records may adopt rules to implement this article.

Scope of article. (a) This article governs genetic testing of an individual to determine parentage, whether the individual: (i) Voluntarily submits to testing; or (ii) Is tested pursuant to an order of the court or a child support enforcement agency.

Requirements for genetic testing. (a) Genetic testing shall be of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the field of genetic testing and performed in a testing laboratory accredited by: (i) The American Association of Blood Banks, or a successor to its functions; (ii) The A…

Report of genetic testing. (a) A report of genetic testing shall be in a record and signed under penalty of perjury by a designee of the testing laboratory. A report made under the requirements of this article is self-authenticating. (b) Documentation from the testing laboratory …

The dates the specimens were received. Genetic testing results; rebuttal. (a) Under this act, a man is rebuttably identified as the father of a child if the genetic testing complies with this article and the results disclose that: (i) The man has at least a ninety-nine percent (9…

Costs of genetic testing. (a) Subject to assessment of costs under article 7 of this act, the cost of initial genetic testing shall be advanced: (i) By a child support enforcement agency in a proceeding in which the agency is providing services; (ii) By the individual who made th…

Additional genetic testing. The court or the child support enforcement agency shall order additional genetic testing upon the request of a party who contests the result of the original testing. If the previous genetic testing identified a man as the father of the child under W.S.…

Deceased individual. For good cause shown, the court may order genetic testing of a deceased individual.

Identical brothers. (a) The court may order genetic testing of a brother of a man identified as the father of a child if the man is commonly believed to have an identical brother and evidence suggests that the brother may be the genetic father of the child. (b) If each brother sa…

Confidentiality of genetic testing. (a) In all cases where paternity testing is undertaken, all genetic information, including genetic material and test results, shall be maintained only as long as an accreditation body specified in W.S. 14-2-703 requires such materials to be mai…

(ii) Pursuant to an order of the court under W.S. (d) Copies of bills for genetic testing and for prenatal and postnatal health care for the mother and child which are furnished to the adverse party not less than ten (10) days before the date of a hearing are admissible to establ…

Proceeding authorized. A civil proceeding may be maintained to adjudicate the parentage of a child. The proceeding is governed by the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure.

Standing to maintain proceeding. (a) Subject to article 5 of this act and W.S. 14-2-807 and 14-2-809, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may be maintained by: (i) The child; (ii) The mother of the child; (iii) adjudicated; (iv) A man whose paternity of the child is to be The ch…

Parties to proceeding. (a) The following individuals shall be joined as parties in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage: (i) (ii) adjudicated.

The mother of the child; and A man whose paternity of the child is to be Personal jurisdiction. (a) An individual may not be adjudicated to be a parent unless the court has personal jurisdiction over the individual. (b) A court of this state having jurisdiction to adjudicate pare…

Venue. (a) Venue for a proceeding to adjudicate parentage is in the county of this state in which: (i) The child resides or is found; (ii) The respondent resides or is found if the child does not reside in this state; or (iii) A proceeding for probate or administration of the pre…

No limitation; child having no presumed, acknowledged or adjudicated father. (a) A proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child having no presumed, acknowledged or adjudicated father may be commenced at any time, even after: (i) The child becomes an adult but only if the chi…

Limitation; child having presumed father. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a proceeding brought by a presumed father, the mother, or another individual to adjudicate the parentage of a child having a presumed father shall be commenced within a r…

[Repealed or reserved.]

Limitation; child having acknowledged or adjudicated father. (a) If a child has an acknowledged father, a signatory to the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding seeking to rescind the acknowledgement or denial or challenge the paternity of t…

Joinder of proceedings. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may be joined with a proceeding for adoption, termination of parental rights, child custody or visitation, child support, divorce, annulment, legal sep…

Proceeding before birth. (a) A proceeding to determine parentage may be commenced before the birth of the child, but may not be concluded until after the birth of the child. The following actions may be taken before the birth of the child: (i) Service of process; (ii) Discovery; …

Child as party; representation. (a) A minor child is a permissible party, but is not a necessary party to a proceeding under this article. (b) The court shall appoint an attorney to represent the best interest of a minor or incapacitated child if the child is a party or the court…

expenses. Admissibility of results of genetic testing; (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, a record of a genetic testing expert is admissible as evidence of the truth of the facts asserted in the report unless a party objects to its admission withi…

Consequences of declining genetic testing. (a) A person who declines to comply with an order for genetic testing is guilty of contempt of court. (b) If an individual whose paternity is being determined declines to submit to genetic testing ordered by the court, the court for that…

Admission of paternity authorized. (a) A respondent in a proceeding to adjudicate parentage may admit to the paternity of a child by filing a pleading to that effect or by admitting paternity under penalty of perjury when making an appearance or during a hearing. (b) If the court…

Temporary order. (a) In a proceeding under this article, the court shall issue a temporary order for support of a child if the order is appropriate and the individual ordered to pay support is: (i) A presumed father of the child; (ii) Petitioning to have his paternity adjudicated…

Rules for adjudication of paternity. (a) The court shall apply the following rules to adjudicate the paternity of a child: (i) The paternity of a child having a presumed, acknowledged or adjudicated father may be disproved only by admissible results of genetic testing excluding t…

Jury prohibited. The court, without a jury, shall adjudicate paternity of a child.

Hearings; inspection of records. Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, any hearing or trial held under this act shall be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding. All papers and re…