If paternity is based on marriage to the mother and the child is not descended from the mother’s husband, the non-descent can be established on application by court order. In this case, the child and the husband are entitled to file an application, but not the mother or the biological father. The determination is then usually made by DNA analyses, blood group determinations or expert opinions on similarity. If the court finds that the child is not descended from the mother’s husband, the child legally has no father and descent from another man can be established.
This application must be filed within two years of knowledge of the circumstances that speak against the parentage and begins at the earliest with the birth of the child. However, the time limit only begins to run when the child is no longer a minor or no longer incapable of making a decision—this applies both to the child itself and to the husband. As a result, this means that both are entitled to file an application until the child reaches the age of 20.
