Ohio statute on contesting paternity and recovery of child support paid[§ 3119.96.1] § 3119.961 Filing of
motion for relief from paternity determination or support order; transfer of action.
Text of Statute
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions to the
contrary in civil rule* 60(B) and in accordance with this section, a person may file a
motion for relief from a final judgment, court order, or administrative determination or
order that determines that the person or a male minor referred to in division (B) of
section 3109.19
of the Revised Code is the father of a child or from a child support order under which the
person or male minor is the obligor. The person shall file the motion in the juvenile
court or other court with jurisdiction under section 2101.022
[2101.02.2] or 2301.03 of the Revised Code of the county in which the original judgment,
court order, administrative determination or order, or child support order was made,
except that, if the determination of paternity is an acknowledgment of paternity that has
become final under section 2151.232
[2151.23.2], 3111.25, or 3111.821 [3111.82.1] of the Revised Code or former section 3111.211
[3111.21.1] or 5101.314 [5101.31.4] of the Revised Code, the person shall file the motion
in the juvenile court or other court with jurisdiction of the county in which the person
or the child who is the subject of the acknowledgment resides.
(B) On the motion of any adverse party or on
its own motion, the court in which an action is brought under this section may transfer
the action to the county in which an adverse party resides when it appears to the court
that the location of the original venue presents a hardship for that adverse party.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
* So in enrolled bill, division (A), Civil
Rule does not appear with letters underlined to indicate capital letters.
[§ 3119.96.2] § 3119.962 Conditions
for granting relief; grounds for denial; rescission of acknowledgment.
Text of Statute
(A)(1) Upon the filing of a motion for
relief under section 3119.961
[3119.96.1] of the Revised Code, a court shall grant relief from a final judgment, court
order, or administrative determination or order that determines that a person or male
minor is the father of a child or from a child support order under which a person or male
minor is the obligor if all of the following apply:
(a) The court receives genetic test results
from a genetic test administered no more than six months prior to the filing of the motion
for relief that finds that there is a zero per cent probability that the person or male
minor is the father of the child.
(b) The person or male minor has not adopted
the child.
(c) The child was not conceived as a result
of artificial insemination in compliance with sections 3111.88
to 3111.96
of the Revised Code.
(2) A court shall not deny relief from a
final judgment, court order, or administrative determination or order that determines that
a person or male minor is the father of a child or from a child support order under which
a person or male minor is the obligor solely because of the occurrence of any of the
following acts if the person or male minor at the time of or prior to the occurrence of
that act did not know that he was not the natural father of the child:
(a) The person or male minor was required to
support the child by a child support order.
(b) The person or male minor validly signed
the child's birth certificate as an informant as provided in section 3705.09
of the Revised Code as that section existed prior to January 1, 1998.
(c) The person or male minor was named in an
acknowledgment of paternity of the child that a court entered upon its journal pursuant to
former section 2105.18
of the Revised Code.
(d) The person or male minor was named in an
acknowledgment of paternity of the child that has become final under section 2151.232
[2151.23.2], 3111.25, or 3111.821 [3111.82.1] of the Revised Code or former section 3111.211
[3111.21.1] or 5101.314 [5101.31.4] of the Revised Code.
(e) The person or male minor was presumed to
be the natural father of the child under any of the circumstances listed in section 3111.03
of the Revised Code.
(f) The person or male minor was presumed to
be the natural father of the child under any of the circumstances listed in:
(i) Division (A)(3) of section 3111.03
of the Revised Code as that division existed prior to January 1, 1998;
(ii) Division (A)(3) of section 3111.03
of the Revised Code as that division existed on and after January 1, 1998, and prior to
the effective date of this amendment;
(iii) Division (A)(5) of section 3111.03
of the Revised Code as that division existed prior to the effective date of this
amendment.
(g) The person or male minor was determined
to be the father of the child in a parentage action under Chapter 3111.
of the Revised Code.
(h) The person or male minor otherwise
admitted or acknowledged himself to be the child's natural father.
(B) A court shall not grant relief from a
final judgment, court order, or administrative determination or order that determines that
a person or male minor is the father of a child or from a child support order under which
a person or male minor is the obligor if the court determines, by a preponderance of the
evidence, that the person or male minor knew that he was not the natural father of the
child before any of the following:
(1) Any act listed in divisions (A)(2)(a) to
(d) and (A)(2)(f) of this section occurred.
(2) The person or male minor was presumed to
be the natural father of the child under any of the circumstances listed in divisions
(A)(1) to (3) of section 3111.03
of the Revised Code.
(3) The person or male minor otherwise
admitted or acknowledged himself to be the child's father.
(C) If the determination of paternity from
which relief is sought is an acknowledgment of paternity that has become final under
section 2151.232
[2151.23.2], 3111.25, or 3111.821 [3111.82.1] of the Revised Code or former section 3111.211
[3111.21.1] or 5101.314 [5101.31.4] of the Revised Code, and the court grants the motion
for relief, it shall order the acknowledgment to be rescinded and destroyed and order the
department of job and family services to remove all information relating to the
acknowledgment from the birth registry.
HISTORY: RC § 3113.21.11,
148 v H 242 (Eff 10-27-2000); RC § 3119.96.2,
148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
The provisions of § 3 of HB 242 (148 v --)
read as follows:
SECTION 3. The General Assembly hereby
declares that it is a person's or male minor's substantive right to obtain relief from a
final judgment, court order, or administrative determination or order that determines that
the person or male minor is the father of a child or that requires the person or male
minor to pay child support for a child. The person or male minor may obtain relief from a
final judgment, court order, or administrative determination or order only if relief is
granted based on genetic evidence that the person or male minor is not the father of the
child who is the subject of the judgment, order, or determination.
[§ 3119.96.3] § 3119.963 Orders for
genetic testing.
Text of Statute
(A) In any action for relief instituted
under section 3119.961
[3119.96.1] of the Revised Code, if the genetic test results submitted pursuant to section
3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code in connection with the motion for relief are solely
provided by the moving party, the court, upon its own motion, may order and, upon the
motion of any party to the action, shall order the child's mother, the child, and the
alleged father to submit to genetic tests. The clerk of the court shall schedule the
genetic testing no later than thirty days after the court issues its order.
(B) If the mother is the custodian of the
child and willfully fails to submit the child to genetic testing, if the alleged father of
the child willfully fails to submit himself to genetic testing, or if the alleged father
is the custodian of the child and willfully fails to submit the child to genetic testing,
the court shall issue an order determining the motion for relief against the party failing
to submit the party or the child to the genetic testing. If a party shows good cause for
failing to submit to genetic testing or for failing to submit the child to genetic
testing, the court shall not consider the failure to be willful.
(C) The party requesting the genetic tests
shall pay any fees charged for the tests, unless the custodian of the child is represented
by the child support enforcement agency in its role as the agency providing enforcement of
child support orders, in which case the child support enforcement agency shall pay the
costs of genetic testing if it requests the tests. The child support enforcement agency or
the person who paid the fees charged for the genetic testing may seek reimbursement for
the fees from the person against whom the court assesses the costs of the action.
(D) The genetic tests shall be made by
qualified examiners who are authorized by the court or the department of job and family
services or by a genetic testing laboratory accredited by the American association of
blood banks. An examiner conducting a genetic test, upon the completion of the test, shall
send a complete report of the test results to the clerk of the court that ordered the
test.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
[§ 3119.96.4] § 3119.964 Effect of
granting relief on parenting time, companionship or visitation rights and on arrearages.
Text of Statute
(A) If a court grants relief from a
judgment, order, or determination pursuant to section 3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code and if the person who is relieved or the male minor has
been granted parenting time rights pursuant to an order issued under section 3109.051
[3109.05.1] or 3109.12 of the Revised Code, or if any relative of the person or male minor
has been granted companionship or visitation rights with the child pursuant to an order
issued under section 3109.051
[3109.05.1] or 3109.12 of the Revised Code, the court shall determine whether the order
granting those rights should be terminated, modified, or continued.
(B) If a court grants relief from a child
support order pursuant to section 3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code and support arrearages are owed, the court may issue an
order canceling that arrearage. Nothing in this section limits any actions that may be
taken by the person or male minor granted relief under this section to recover support
paid under the child support order from which relief was granted.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
[§ 3119.96.5] § 3119.965 Paternity
action not precluded by granting of relief.
Text of Statute
If a court grants a motion that relieves a
person or male minor from a judgment, order, or determination under section 3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code, the granting of the motion does not preclude any person
from filing, subsequent to the granting of the motion, an action under Chapter 3111.
of the Revised Code to establish a parent-child relationship between the person or male
minor who was granted relief and the child who is the subject of the judgment, order, or
determination from which relief was granted. A person shall not file more than one action
of that type under Chapter 3111.
of the Revised Code in any two-year period regarding the person or male minor who was
granted relief and the child. A court, pursuant to a motion filed under this division and
in accordance with Chapter 3111.
of the Revised Code, may enter a judgment in the action that determines the existence of a
parent-child relationship between the person or male minor granted relief and the child
only if genetic tests taken subsequent to the granting of the motion for relief indicate
that there is a statistical probability that the party or the male minor is the natural
father of the child.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
[§ 3119.96.6] § 3119.966 Liability
for costs and attorney fees where relief denied or paternity not found.
Text of Statute
(A) If relief from a child support order is
not granted pursuant to section 3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code, the court shall require the person who filed the motion
for relief to pay all court costs of the action and the reasonable attorney's fees of the
opposing party.
(B) If a person files an action under
Chapter 3111.
of the Revised Code as described in section 3119.965
[3119.96.5] of the Revised Code and the court determines that no parent-child relationship
exists between the person or the male minor and the child, the court shall require the
person who filed the action to pay all court costs of the action and the reasonable
attorney's fees of the opposing party.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
[§ 3119.96.7] § 3119.967 Relief
available regardless of date of judgment, order or determination.
Text of Statute
Except as otherwise provided in sections
3119.961 [3119.96.1] to 3119.967 [3119.96.7] of the Revised Code, a party is entitled to
obtain relief under section 3119.962
[3119.96.2] of the Revised Code regardless of whether the judgment, order, or
determination from which relief is sought was issued prior to, on, or after October 27,
2000.
HISTORY: 148 v S 180. Eff 3-22-2001.
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