Fatherhood
The child’s father is a man who is married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth, who has accepted paternity, or whose paternity has been identified by the court. To accept paternity, an application must be filled out, which can be submitted when the child’s birth is registered, or at a later stage. In some cases, identifying or contesting paternity is also necessary. In any case, the father’s entry on the child’s birth certificate is important from the child’s point of view, because every child has the right to know their parents and to be cared for. Both parents are jointly responsible for raising and developing the child.
Who is considered the father of the child?
Mutual rights and obligations of parents and children are derived from the descent of children, which is established by the procedure provided by law.
The child’s mother is the woman who gave birth to the child, and the child’s father is the man who conceived the child. A child is considered to have been conceived by a man:
- who is married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth
- who has accepted paternity
- who has given consent to the artificial insemination of a woman with the sperm cells of an anonymous donor or non-partner donor
- who has given consent to the artificial insemination as a partner donor
- whose paternity has been identified by the court. The court does not identify an anonymous donor or non-partner donor whose sperm has been used for artificial insemination as the child’s father.
A man who is married to the child’s mother is not considered the child’s father if he has not conceived the child and the spouses have submitted a joint application to the registry office for this, or if another man has accepted paternity.
How to accept paternity?
Paternity can be accepted only if the child’s descent from the father has not been established on the basis provided by law. A man can accept paternity only personally, based on an application, and it cannot be done conditionally or temporarily.
A minor or an adult man with limited legal capacity can accept paternity with the consent of his legal representative (parent or guardian). If the child’s mother is a minor or an adult with limited legal capacity, she can consent to the acceptance of paternity with the consent of her legal representative.
Acceptance of paternity requires the consent of the child’s mother, which must also be given personally and cannot be conditional or temporary. Paternity cannot be accepted if the mother has been completely deprived of parental custody, or the mother has died and has not given her consent to the acceptance of paternity before her death.
Application of acceptance of paternity
Application for acceptance of paternity is required, which can be submitted during the registration of the child’s birth or at a later stage. If the child’s parents are married, the application for acceptance of paternity does not have to be submitted when registering the birth. If applying may prove impossible or difficult after the birth of the child, it can also be done during the pregnancy in exceptional cases. In this case, the application must be submitted to the registry office while in Estonia. In a foreign country, the application can be submitted to the Estonian consular office, which will send it to the Estonian registry office, where the child’s mother can then give her consent to the acceptance of paternity.
If paternity is accepted by the man who conceived the child but who is not married to the child’s mother, the child’s mother who is married does not need her husband’s consent.
If paternity is accepted during the birth registration, the corresponding part of the birth registration application is filled out. If the acceptance of paternity takes place after the birth registration, the application for the acceptance of paternity is completed separately.
If the child’s parents are not married and the father accepts the child after the birth registration, the child can be given the father’s surname. When establishing the child’s descent from the father in court, the court can give the child the father’s surname.
How is paternity contested?
The right to contest paternity belongs to a man whose paternity has been established as a result of his marriage to the child’s mother or who has accepted paternity. The child’s mother and child also have the right to contest paternity.
Within one year from the birth of the child, paternity can also be contested by a man who requests to establish his paternity instead of the man whose paternity has been established due to his marriage with the child’s mother, or of the man who has accepted paternity. If more than a year has passed since the birth of the child, the man requesting to establish his paternity can dispute the paternity of another man only with the consent of that man and the child’s mother.
Paternity can be contested in court within one year from the day when the circumstances of the paternity dispute became known to the person. The establishment or contest of paternity is decided by the court based on the man’s action against the child, or the basis of the mother’s or the child’s action against the man. Paternity can be established by a DNA test, which can be carried out either:
- ordered by the court or
- out of court, according to the wishes of the parties.
The result of a DNA analysis showing biological paternity is evidence-based, on which a judgment confirming paternity can be passed if the opposing party does not convince the court of the opposite with the facts.
If the child is born as a result of an artificial insemination, filiation is established through the consent given to insemination.
The child is descended from a man who has given consent to the insemination of the woman as a partner donor or with the sperm cells of an anonymous or non-partner donor or with an embryo created from a foreign ovum. Neither the man himself nor third parties can contest the filiation of the child from the man who has given consent to the woman's artificial insemination.
If the female husband consents to the artificial insemination of her female wife, then the child is considered to be descended from the female husband who has given consent to the artificial insemination of her female wife through giving consent to the artificial insemination. Neither the female husband who has given consent to the artificial insemination of the female wife nor third parties can contest the filiation of the child from themselves.
How is paternity established?
If you want to establish paternity yourself, or based on the agreement of the parties, call and make an appointment to give samples at the nearest forensic medical examination department of the Estonian Forensic Science Institute:
- In Tallinn, phone (+372) 663 6726
- In Tartu, phone (+372) 663 6752
- In Pärnu, phone (+372) 663 6615
- In Kohtla-Järve, phone (+372) 663 6780
You can read more about the procedure for establishing paternity on the webpage of the Estonian Forensic Science Institute. From there, you can also find the locations of regional forensic medical examination departments.
How and where is subsequent acceptance of paternity identified?
If the child’s birth has been registered and no man has been entered into the population register as the child’s father, the child’s mother and the child’s biological father can submit an application for subsequent acceptance of paternity to the local government of the county centre or in a notarised form. In this case, upon the agreement of the parents, it is also possible to indicate joint custody or leave custody to only one of the parents. It is also possible to give the child the father’s surname during the later paternity adoption procedure since the child received the mother’s surname when registering the birth with only the mother’s data.
Later adoption of paternity in a local government of the county centre is not possible if the mother is dead and has not given her consent to the adoption of paternity during her lifetime. In this case, it is possible to identify paternity in court. It is also not possible to carry out the procedure if the child already has a father entry, but if someone (for example, the mother, another man, or the child’s father) claims that the man entered in the register is not the real father of the child, in this case, you would also have to go to court to dispute paternity.
There is no age limit for subsequent acceptance of paternity, which means that it can also be done for an adult child. The difference is that from the age of 14, the child’s consent is also requested in the process of identifying paternity.
When is it necessary to go to court to identify paternity?
Paternity can be identified in court if the child’s biological father is not willing to apply for the acceptance of paternity or if the mother does not give consent to the acceptance of paternity. Also in the event of the child’s father having died before the child’s birth or birth registration, in which case he could not accept paternity, or if the child’s mother is dead and could not give her consent to the acceptance of paternity.
In exceptional cases, it is possible to establish descent from the mother in court if there is no birth certificate from the healthcare provider.
What must the mother and child take into account if there is no father on the child’s birth certificate?
According to the constitution, all parents have the right and duty to raise their children and take care of them. Due to the child’s descent, the child’s parents automatically have a maintenance obligation and the right to communicate with the child. A child who, according to the population register, does not have a father does not have the right to a maintenance allowance, a state maintenance allowance, or a survivor’s benefit. Also, the child becomes the legal heir of the parent, and the child has a maintenance obligation towards the parent as an adult, if the parent requires help and there are no grounds to exclude the maintenance obligation.
If the child’s descent from his/her biological father is not legally proven and there is no father entry on the child’s birth certificate, the mutual maintenance obligation between the biological father and the child does not arise. In this case, the child is not entitled to a state maintenance allowance. Also, in the event of the death of the biological but unproven father, the child does not have the right to a survivor’s benefit and inheritance.