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MI Supreme Court To Decide Whether Paternity Can Be Challenged After Divorce

The state Supreme Court will decide whether a woman can have her ex-husband’s parental rights revoked because he’s not the biological father of her daughter.

We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.

Paternity was never an issue in the divorce. And the divorce order treats the ex-husband as the father of a little girl born while the couple was married. But a paternity test done after the divorce was final determined the father was almost certainly a man the mother was having an affair with during the marriage. The problem is this case does not fit neatly into any of the paternity categories set in state law. That’s despite the fact that the Legislature changed the law a couple years ago to reflect the new realities now that DNA tests can establish parentage.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
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