Maine Comment

Section 1852 is made gender neutral to cover all presumed parents, regardless of gender. Subsequent sections are revised accordingly.

§1853.__Denial of parentage

A presumed parent may sign a denial of that person's parentage. The denial is valid only if:

1.__Acknowledgment.__An acknowledgment of paternity signed, or otherwise authenticated, by another man is filed pursuant to section 1855;

2.__Under penalty of perjury.__The denial is in a record and is signed, or otherwise authenticated, under penalty of perjury; and

3.__Presumed parent.__The presumed parent has not previously:

A.__Acknowledged paternity, unless the previous acknowledgment has been rescinded pursuant to section 1857 or successfully challenged pursuant to section 1858; or

B.__Been adjudicated to be the parent of the child.

§1854.__Acknowledgment of paternity and denial of parentage

1.__Acknowledgment and denial.__An acknowledgment of paternity and a denial of parentage may be contained in a single document or may be signed in counterparts and may be filed separately or simultaneously. If the acknowledgment and denial are both necessary, neither is valid until both are filed.

2.__Signed before birth.__An acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of parentage may be signed before the birth of the child.

3.__Effective date.__Subject to subsection 1, an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of parentage takes effect on the birth of the child or the filing of the document with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, whichever occurs later.

4.__Signed by minor.__An acknowledgment of paternity or denial of parentage signed by a minor is valid if it is otherwise in compliance with this chapter.