# The Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991, Article 27: Disputes about parentage

Extent: N.I.

(1) Where a person who is alleged to be a parent of the child with respect to whom an application for a maintenance calculation has been made ... (“the alleged parent”) denies that he is one of the child's parents, the Department shall not make a maintenance calculation on the assumption that the alleged parent is one of the child's parents unless the case falls within one of those set out in paragraph (2).
(2) The Cases are—
CASE A1
Where—
(a) the child is habitually resident in Northern Ireland;
(b) the Department is satisfied that the alleged parent is a man who was married to, or the civil partner of, the child's mother at some time in the period beginning with the conception and ending with the birth of the child; and
(c) the child has not been adopted.
CASE A2
Where—
(a) the child is habitually resident in Northern Ireland;
(b) the alleged parent has been registered as the father of the child under Article 14 or 18(1)(b)(ii) of the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, or under section 10 or 10A of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, or in any register kept under section 13 or 44 of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965; and
(c) the child has not subsequently been adopted.
CASE A3
Where the result of a scientific test (within the meaning of Article 27A) taken by the alleged parent would be relevant to determining the child's parentage, and the alleged parent—
(a) refuses to take such a test; or
(b) has submitted to such a test, and it shows that there is no reasonable doubt that the alleged parent is a parent of the child.
CASE A
Where the alleged parent is a parent of the child in question by virtue of having adopted him.
CASE B
Where the alleged parent is a parent of the child in question by virtue of an order under section 30 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 or section 54 or 54A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (parental orders).
CASE B1
Where the Department is satisfied that the alleged parent is a parent of the child in question by virtue of section 27 or 28 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 or any of sections 33 to 46 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (which relate to children resulting from assisted reproduction).
CASE C
Where—
(a) either—
(i) a declaration that the alleged parent is a parent of the child in question (or a declaration which has that effect) is in force under Article 31B or 32 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 or section 56 of the Family Law Act 1986 (declarations of parentage); or
(ii) a declarator by a court in Scotland that the alleged parent is a parent of the child in question (or a declarator which has that effect) is in force; and
(b) the child has not subsequently been adopted.
CASE D
Where—
(a) a declaration to the effect that the alleged parent is one of the parents of the child in question has been made under Article 28; and
(b) the child has not subsequently been adopted.
CASE E
Where—
(a) the alleged parent has been found or adjudged to be the father of the child in question—
(i) in affiliation proceedings before any court in the United Kingdom; or
(ii) in proceedings before any court in England and Wales or Northern Ireland which are relevant proceedings for the purposes of section 12 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968or section 8 of the Civil Evidence Act (Northern Ireland) 1971,
(whether or not he offered any defence to the allegation of paternity) and that finding or adjudication still subsists; and
(b) the child has not subsequently been adopted.
(3) In this Article—
“adopted” means adopted within the meaning of Part V of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987; and
“affiliation proceedings”, in relation to Scotland, means any action of affiliation and aliment.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1991/2628/article/27 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/child-support-northern-ireland-order-1991/article-27
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.