Establishing paternity in Belarus

The establishment of paternity in the Republic of Belarus is regulated by various legal acts. The main one is the Marriage and Family Code of the Republic of Belarus. Issues of establishing paternity are regulated by the resolution of the plenum of the Republic of Belarus Supreme Court of 20.12.1991 No. 12 “On the practice of applying legislation by the courts of the Republic of Belarus when considering cases of establishing paternity and recovering alimony”.

In accordance with article 57 of the Marriage and Family Code of the Republic of Belarus, paternity can be established in court if the child’s parents are not married and no application has been submitted to the civil registry office, according to which paternity can be established voluntarily.

Establishing paternity in court is also possible if the child’s mother is married to another person who is not the father of the child, should the record of the father be challenged. As a general rule, in this situation, paternity is established administratively by submitting the following applications to the civil registry office:

1) joint application by the father and mother of the child for the registration of paternity;

2) statement by the child’s mother confirming that her husband is not the child’s father;

3) statement by the husband of the child’s mother confirming that he is not the child’s father.

However, this procedure is not always followed for moral and ethical reasons as the individuals involved are not always ready to submit such statements.

If you find yourself in one of these situations and would like to obtain the official recognition of the kinship between the father and the child, you will need a paternity lawyer.

The paternity lawyer of our law office will explain in detail the provisions of the Belarusian legislation concerning the establishment of paternity as well as answer all your questions.

Our paternity lawyer will explain which persons have the right to apply to the court with a legal claim. The establishment of paternity in court is made at the request of one of the parents or foster parents, the child’s guardian, as well as the child themselves upon reaching the age of legal majority. An underage mother has the right to independently file a claim for establishing paternity.

There are cases when the mother refuses to submit to the civil registry office a joint application with the father for registration of the child. In this situation, the court is required to accept claims for establishing paternity not only from the mother, but also from the father or the adult child. The mother of a child born with the help of assisted reproductive technologies or its foster parent (guardian) do not have the right to file a claim for establishing paternity against a man who was a donor of germ cells that were used in the treatment by assisted reproductive technologies.

The paternity lawyer of our law office will help you to file a claim with the court in compliance with the legally established procedure for filing a claim.

With a claim for establishing paternity, one must apply to the court at the place of residence of the defendant or at the place of one’s own residence. If the defendant’s place of residence is unknown, the court may put out a search for them.

The statute of limitations does not apply to claims for establishing paternity.

LAWYER FOR ESTABLISHING PATERNITY IN BELARUS

Our paternity lawyer will help you draw up a legal claim with the consideration of all the information that it should contain, as well as with all the necessary documents attached.

A legal claim must contain the following information:

1) exact designation of the plaintiff’s claims;

2) facts used by the plaintiff to substantiate their claims;

3) evidence supporting each of the mentioned facts;

4) other information arising from the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus and other legislative acts necessary to resolve the issue of claim acceptance.

The paternity lawyer of our law office will explain that in preparation of the case for trial, there may be a situation where the establishment of paternity may transfer to the administrative procedure, through the civil registry office. The judge, as a general rule, must summon the plaintiff and the defendant for an interview and if during it the defendant recognizes himself as the father of the child, then, with the consent of both parents, the establishment of paternity in the future can be made by submitting a joint application to the civil registry office. The court grants the parties a period of time for registration of paternity on a voluntary basis. In the event that the parties do not register paternity within the specified period, the case is scheduled for trial after appropriate preparation.

A paternity lawyer of our law office will help you in collecting and processing evidence confirming the fact of paternity. Evidence in paternity cases may include:

– any factual data recognized by the court as reliable: letters, telegrams, photos, questionnaires, applications to various authorities;

– other actions that indicate that the person in question has recognized themselves as the father of the child;

– witness testimony.

Any person who is aware of any circumstances relating to the case can be a witness in the paternity case. The bias of persons (through kinship, friendship, official position, friendly or hostile relations) cannot prevent testimony in court. However, in this case the testimony of such persons needs additional verification;

– conclusions of forensic, genetic and dactyloscopic examinations.

Such documents can serve as evidence that reliably confirms the child’s origin from the father. Paternity could be established solely on the basis of these conclusions, but the examination conclusions are only one of the means of proof therefore they must be evaluated by the court in conjunction with other evidence in the case.

Quite often, before the trial, people apply to forensic institutions in order to conduct a special study to establish the kinship between individuals. The expert conclusion that confirms the existence of a kinship may be presented as evidence in a paternity case and may be considered as written evidence.

According to paragraph 4 of article 57 of the Marriage and Family Code, when establishing paternity, the court may also take into account:

– co-parenting or maintenance of the child by the mother and the alleged father of the child;

– cohabitation and maintenance of a common household by the mother and the presumed father of the child before the child was born.

The paternity lawyer of our law office will help you prove the existence of the above circumstances.

Co-parenting takes place if the defendant lives with the mother and child, regularly communicates with the child and takes care of them.

Joint maintenance of a child by the mother and father means that the child is dependent on them or that the defendant provides systematic financial assistance to the child, regardless of its size.

Living together and maintaining a common household by the child’s mother and the defendant before the child is born can be supported by evidence of residence in one common dwelling unit, sharing food, unified budget, acquisition of common property, mutual care.

When deciding whether cohabitation and maintenance of a common household took place, specific circumstances are assessed in each individual case. For example, cohabitation can be recognized as living in different dwelling units, if the father was systematically visiting the mother of the child and contributing towards the costs of maintaining a common household. Termination of cohabitation and maintenance of a common household before the birth of a child may not in itself serve as a ground for refusal to satisfy a claim for establishing paternity, except in cases where the termination took place before the beginning of pregnancy.

Our law firm’s paternity lawyer has more than a decade of experience in providing legal assistance in paternity cases. Our paternity lawyer provides the following legal assistance:

– advising on the procedure for establishing paternity in the Republic of Belarus;

– preparing claims and other documents to the court for paternity cases;

– representing clients in court in paternity cases.

Registration of paternity in the civil registry offices takes place on the basis of a court decision, which must contain the information necessary for registration. In accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus, the court’s decision to establish a fact that is subject to registration with the bodies registering civil status acts or other bodies serves as the basis for such registration, without replacing the documents issued by these bodies.

When establishing paternity in court, the rights and obligations of the father arise from the moment the court’s decision comes into force. Whereas the duty to maintain the child may be imposed on the father from the moment of filing a claim for establishing paternity.

Of course, establishing paternity is a complex and complex case in which you need to know all the specifics of the Belarusian legislation in this area. If you contact our law office, our paternity lawyer will save you from problems and give you a professional view of the situation. Our lawyer will help you apply to the court in a proper manner, as well as will professionally represent your interests in court, including on the side of the defendant. Please contact us for more information.