This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Alabama Uniform Parentage Act.

(a) The causes of action provided by this chapter shall be brought in the juvenile or family court division of the district or circuit court and wherever used in this chapter the word 'court' shall mean the juvenile or family court division of the district or circuit court and specifically shall include any district or circuit court judge otherwise sitting in one of these divisions.

(b) A defendant who resides in this state thereby submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to an action brought under this chapter.

(c) A person who is a nonresident of this state and who has sexual intercourse in this state thereby submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to an action brought under this chapter with respect to a child who may have been conceived by that act of sexual intercourse. Jurisdiction over a nonresident may be acquired only by personal service of summons outside this state or by certified mail with proof of actual receipt.

(d) A defendant who resides in this state thereby submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to a uniform interstate family support action or a uniform reciprocal enforcement of support action filed in this state by an initiating state for the purpose of establishing paternity. If the defendant asserts as a defense that he is not the father of the child for whom support is sought and it appears to the court that the defense is not frivolous, and if both parties are present at the hearing or if proof required in the case indicates the presence of either or both is not necessary, the court shall adjudicate the issue of paternity. The appropriate provisions of this chapter shall apply to such actions. Upon determination of paternity or nonpaternity, the appropriate sections of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act or the Reciprocal State Enforcement of Duty to Support Act (§30-4-80 et seq.) shall apply.

(e) The court shall retain jurisdiction of the cause for the purpose of entering such other and further orders as changing circumstances of the parties may in justice and equity require.

(f) The complaint for paternity or nonsupport shall be filed in the county in which the child resides or the county in which the defendant resides.

(g) Process directed to the defendant shall issue forthwith requiring the defendant to file written pleadings to the complaint in the manner prescribed by appropriate court rules. Once service of process is executed, if any defendant fails to file his or her answer or otherwise appear in an action commenced under this section within the time period prescribed by law, the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedures, or as ordered by the court, the court shall enter an order of default against him or her upon proper request and proof of the allegations.

(h) The court in which the action originated shall determine both the law and the facts without the intervention of a jury.

The child may be made a party to the action. If the child is a minor he shall be represented by his general guardian or a guardian ad litem appointed by the court, if not otherwise represented by counsel. The child's mother or father may not represent the child as guardian or otherwise. The court may appoint the public authority chargeable by law with the support of the child as guardian ad litem for the child. The natural mother, each man presumed to be the father under the provisions of Section 26-17-5, and each man alleged to be the natural father, shall be made parties or, if not subject to the jurisdiction of the court, shall be given notice of the action in a manner prescribed by the court and an opportunity to be heard. The court may align the parties.

(a) Upon application of the defendant in a paternity proceeding or any other party to the action, the court shall order the mother, child, and defendant to submit to genetic tests to assist the court in determining paternity of the child. The state shall pay the cost of such tests for Title IV-D recipients subject to recoupment from the father if paternity is established. Additional testing may be ordered in any case if an original test result is contested, upon request and advanced payment by the contestant. Whenever the court orders any genetic test to be performed and any of the persons whose genetic sample is to be taken and tested refuses to submit to the test, that fact shall be disclosed upon the trial, unless good cause is shown for not doing so.

(b) Any tests shall be made by an expert qualified in genetic testing who shall be approved by the court. The expert may be called by the court or any party as a witness to testify to the genetic test results and shall be subject to cross-examination by the parties. The genetic test results may be admitted into evidence by the defendant, the plaintiff, or the state. Genetic testing methods include, but are not limited to, the human leukocyte antigen test. The results of any and all genetic tests shall be made available to the court.

(c) Any objection to the admission into evidence or objection to the reliability of any genetic testing results performed on the parties shall be made in writing by the party contesting the admission at least 15 days prior to any hearing at which the results may be introduced into evidence. In the event the results of any genetic test are not made available in time for the party to submit a written objection as provided above, the court shall grant a request for continuance of the proceedings to allow the party adequate time to make a proper objection under this section. If the results of any test were available to a party in time for the party to object to the genetic test results within 15 days and no objection was made, or if a request for a continuance is not made prior to or at the hearing as provided in the preceding sentence, the test results shall be admissible into evidence without the need for foundation testimony or any other proof of authenticity or accuracy.

(d) Compensation of each expert witness shall be paid as the court shall order. The court shall order said compensation to be paid prior to the administration of the genetic test.

(a) Evidence relating to paternity may include any of the following:

(1) Evidence of sexual intercourse between the mother and alleged father at any possible time of conception.

(2) An expert's opinion concerning the statistical probability of the alleged father's paternity based upon the duration of the mother's pregnancy.

(3) Genetic test results, weighed in accordance with evidence, if available, of the statistical probability of the alleged father's paternity. Genetic test results which indicate a 97 percent or greater probability that the alleged father is the biological or natural father of the minor child shall create a presumption of paternity that the alleged father is in fact the father of the child. This presumption may be rebutted only by clear and convincing evidence.

(4) Medical or anthropological evidence relating to the alleged father's paternity of the child based on tests performed by experts. If a man has been identified as a possible father of the child, the court may, and upon request of a party shall, require the child, the mother, and the man to submit to appropriate tests.

(5) All other evidence relevant to the issue of paternity of the child.

(b) Upon refusal of any witness, including a party, to testify under oath or produce evidence, or submit to genetic testing, the court may order him to testify under oath and produce evidence, including genetic testing, concerning all relevant facts. If the refusal is upon the ground that his testimony or evidence might tend to incriminate him, the court shall grant him immunity from all criminal liability on account of the testimony or evidence he is required to produce. An order granting immunity bars prosecution of the witness for any offense shown in whole or in part by testimony or evidence he is required to produce, except for perjury committed in his testimony. The refusal of a witness, who has been granted immunity to obey an order to testify or produce evidence shall be punishable as a civil contempt of the court.

(c) In an action against an alleged father, evidence offered by the alleged father with respect to another man who is not subject to the jurisdiction of the court concerning his sexual intercourse with the mother at or about the probable time of conception of the child is admissible in evidence only if the alleged father has undergone and made available to the court genetic tests the results of which do not exclude the possibility of the alleged father's paternity of the child. A man who is identified and is subject to the jurisdiction of the court shall be made a defendant in the action.

(d) Medical and health care bills for expenses relating to pregnancy, childbirth, or genetic testing performed to obtain evidence of paternity may be submitted as proof of certain support and paternity establishment costs. Bills submitted shall be admissible as evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony, and shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amounts incurred for services or for genetic testing performed to obtain evidence regarding paternity of the child.

(a) If the existence of the father and child relationship is declared, or paternity or a duty of support has been acknowledged or adjudicated under this chapter, prior law or applicable sections of the Criminal Code, the obligation of the father may be enforced in the same or other proceedings by the mother, the child, the public authorities that have furnished or may furnish the reasonable expenses of pregnancy, confinement, education, or support, or by any other person, including a private agency, to the extent these expenses have been or are being furnished.

(b) Pursuant to the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Sections 6-9-230 et seq., a court in this state shall give full faith and credit to a paternity determination of any other state whether established through voluntary acknowledgment, administrative processes, or judicial process which paternity determination shall be enforced and otherwise treated in the same manner as a paternity determination of this state.

(c) The court shall order payments to be made to a person, corporation, agency designated to administer them under the supervision of the court, or the public authority which has furnished or may furnish support for the child including but not limited to monetary and medical payments.

(d) Willful failure to obey the judgment or order of the court is a civil contempt of the court. All sanctions for enforcement of judgments apply.

(a) Any promise in writing to furnish support for a child, growing out of a supposed or alleged father and child relationship does not require consideration and is enforceable according to its terms in any court having jurisdiction under Section 26-17-10(a), subject to the provisions of Section 26-17-6(d).

(b) Stipulations in any agreement that seek to bar a paternity action are not enforceable.

(a) In all proceedings under this chapter, any party may be represented by counsel. If the public authority chargeable by law with support of a child is a party, the appropriate attorney as provided in Section 26-17-7 shall represent the public authority. If the child receives public assistance and no conflict of interest exists, the appropriate attorney shall also represent the person having custody. If the child does not receive public assistance, the appropriate attorney may represent the person having custody at that person's request.

(b) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent a defendant who is a minor and who is not otherwise represented by counsel.

(c) It is the express intent of this chapter that parties to proceedings under the chapter should pay the fees and expenses of retained counsel, expert witnesses, guardians ad litem, the costs of appropriate tests and other costs of the trial as they may, themselves, incur. The court may order reasonable fees for attorneys, expert witnesses, guardian ad litem fees, costs of appropriate tests and other costs of the trial, including docket fees, to be paid by the parties in such proportions as the court may direct. In the event the court determines that a party is unable to pay the fees and costs as directed, it may order fees and costs, including fees and costs of appropriate tests, if such tests have been ordered by the court as provided in Section 26-17-12, to be paid from the fund entitled, 'court costs not otherwise provided for.' If costs and fees are ordered to be paid from said fund, claims shall be submitted by the clerk of the court to the State Comptroller for audit and allowance and, if approved by the comptroller, shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer for payment from said fund. Provided, docket fees and fees of retained counsel shall not be paid from said fund. Docket fees shall be waived if the court determines that the parties are incapable of paying them.

(d) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed so as to guarantee court-appointed counsel at the state's expense to any party who is not otherwise entitled to court-appointed counsel under statutory or case law. Appointment of counsel for a minor defendant or party who is entitled to counsel and the compensation of such appointed counsel shall be governed by the other applicable law.

(e) When a party bringing an action is represented by the district attorney or attorney authorized to represent the State of Alabama, no filing fee shall be paid to the clerk of the court but may be taxed as a cost of the action as provided herein.

Any interested party may bring an action to determine the existence or nonexistence of a mother and child relationship. Insofar as practicable, the provisions of this chapter applicable to the father and child relationship apply.

(a) Upon order of a court of this state or upon request of a court of another state, the Registrar of Vital Statistics shall prepare a new certificate of birth consistent with the findings of the court and shall substitute the new certificate for the original certificate of birth.

(b) The fact that the father and child relationship was declared after the child's birth shall not be ascertainable from the new certificate but the actual place and date of birth shall be shown.

(c) The evidence upon which the new certificate was made and the original birth certificate shall be kept in a sealed and confidential file and be subject to inspection only upon the consent of the court and all interested persons, or in exceptional cases only upon an order of the court for good cause shown.

As used in this chapter, the term 'parent and child relationship' shall mean the legal relationship existing between a child and his natural or adoptive parents incident to which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges, duties and obligations. It shall include the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship.

(a) The State of Alabama, the person on the relation of whom the action is brought or the defendant may appeal from any final judgment rendered under the provisions of this chapter. Appeals shall be taken from the juvenile or family court division of either the district or circuit court to the circuit court for a trial de novo. On trial de novo, the parties shall not be entitled to a jury trial. Written notice of appeal shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court within 14 days of the date of the order appealed from or the denial of a post trial motion. The defendant may file a supersedeas bond on appeal to stay enforcement of a support order, but a support order shall continue to accrue during the pendency of the appeal. Any party may appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals pursuant to the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Alabama Rules of Juvenile Procedure upon the entry of a final judgment in the circuit court on the trial de novo. If the appeal is taken by the state, no security for the cost need be given.

(b) Appeals may be taken from the juvenile or family court division of the district or circuit court directly to the Court of Civil Appeals if there is an adequate record or stipulation of the facts by the parties. Provided, that this subsection shall specifically not be construed as requiring the juvenile and family court divisions of the district and circuit courts to maintain a record of the proceedings brought pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Written notice of appeal in appeals brought pursuant to this subsection shall be filed within 14 days of the entry of the judgment or order appealed from.

(a) If, under the supervision of a licensed physician and with the consent of her husband, a wife is inseminated artificially with semen donated by a man not her husband, the husband is treated in law as if he were the natural father of a child thereby conceived. The husband's consent must be in writing and signed by him and his wife. The physician shall certify their signatures and the dates of the insemination, and file the husband's consent with the State Department of Health, where it shall be kept confidential and in a sealed file. However, the physician's failure to do so does not affect the father and child relationship. All papers and records pertaining to the insemination, whether part of the permanent record of a court or of a file held by the supervising physician or elsewhere, are subject to inspection only upon an order of the court for good cause shown. The supervising physician shall not be liable to any person, including the wife, the husband, or a child resulting from an artificial insemination procedure, for the release of any information pertaining to the artificial insemination which occurs through accident, error, omission, inadvertence or the intentional conduct, without malice, of the physician or his agents, servants, or employees.

(b) The donor of semen provided to a licensed physician for use in artificial insemination of a married woman other than the donor's wife is treated in law as if he were not the natural father of a child thereby conceived.

(a) The natural mother and father of a child born to a woman who was unmarried at the time of birth and had not been married or attempted to be married within 300 days prior to the birth may, at any time and place prior to the child's 19th birthday, state and acknowledge that they are the natural parents of the child in an affidavit of paternity signed by both parties before a notary public. Before a mother and a putative father sign an acknowledgment of paternity, the mother and the putative father shall be given notice, orally and in writing, of the alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and, if one parent is a minor, any rights afforded due to minority status, and responsibilities that arise from signing the acknowledgment. The affidavit shall be on a form prescribed by rule of court and shall include the Social Security number and current address of each parent, a listing of the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity, including the duty to financially support the child, and instruction for filing the affidavit with the Office of Vital Statistics.

(b) The affidavit of paternity shall be a legally sufficient basis for establishing an obligation for child support and for the expenses of the mother's pregnancy and confinement. The affidavit may be admitted as evidence of paternity in any action to establish a support order or an adjudication of paternity.

(c) Hospitals that have a licensed obstetric care unit or are licensed to provide obstetric services or licensed birthing centers associated with a hospital shall provide to the mother and alleged father, if he is present in the hospital, during the period immediately preceding or following the birth of a child to an unmarried woman in the hospital, all of the following: (1) Written materials about paternity establishment. (2) Form affidavits of paternity for the purposes of subsection (a) above. (3) A written description of the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity. (4) An opportunity, prior to discharge from the hospital, to speak with a trained person made available through the Department of Human Resources, either by telephone or in person, who can clarify information and answer questions about paternity establishment. The Department of Human Resources shall make materials available without cost to the hospitals. If the mother and father complete the affidavit in the hospital, the hospital shall send the affidavit of paternity to the Office of Vital Statistics with required birth certificate information within five days of the birth of the child. Hospitals may be reimbursed by the Department of Human Resources up to the amount allowable by federal regulations for each completed affidavit. A hospital shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for actions taken pursuant to the requirements of this section.

(d) The Office of Vital Statistics shall offer the mother and the alleged father paternity acknowledgment services as specified in this section.

(e) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, an affidavit of paternity completed in accordance with this section shall be accepted by the Office of Vital Statistics for purposes of listing the father's name on the child's birth certificate.

(f) If a birth certificate has been filed in the Office of Vital Statistics, listing a father of the child, no new birth certificate can be established by the Office of Vital Statistics based on an affidavit of paternity received subsequently by that office unless a determination of paternity has been made by a court of competent jurisdiction or following adoption.

(g) The affidavit of paternity shall be considered a confidential record and access shall be available in the same manner as birth records. The affidavit of paternity shall not be subject to the provisions of Section 22-9A-12(c) and shall be released by the Office of Vital Statistics to the Department of Human Resources upon request by the department and payment of any fee required by the Office of Vital Statistics for the purpose of child support enforcement or any other lawful purpose without the necessity of a court order.

(h) A signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity completed in accordance with this section shall be considered a legal finding of paternity subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of 60 days or the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child including a proceeding to establish a support order in which the signatory is a party.

(i) After the 60-day period, a signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be challenged in court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact with the burden of proof upon the challenger, and the legal responsibilities, including child support obligations, of any signatory arising from the acknowledgment may not be suspended during the challenge except for good cause shown.

(j) An acknowledgment of paternity executed in another state under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act shall be entitled to full faith and credit in this state.

The parent and child relationship shall extend equally to every child and to every parent, regardless of the marital status of the parents.

The parent and child relationship may be established between a child and:

(1) The natural mother by proof of her having given birth to the child, or pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(2) The natural father pursuant to this chapter;

(3) An adoptive parent by proof of adoption or pursuant to the Revised Uniform Adoption Act.

(a) A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if any of the following apply:

(1) He and the child's natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce, or after a decree of separation is entered by a court.

(2) Before the child's birth he and the child's natural mother have attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and

a. If the attempted marriage may be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage, or within 300 days after the termination of the attempted marriage by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce; or

b. If the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation.

(3) After the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have married, or attempted to marry, each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with the law although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and

a. He has acknowledged his paternity of the child in writing, the writing being filed with the appropriate court or the Office of Vital Statistics; or

b. With his consent, he is named as the child's father on the child's birth certificate; or

c. He is otherwise obligated to support the child either under a written voluntary promise or by court order.

(4) While the child is under the age of majority, he receives the child into his home or otherwise openly holds out the child as his natural child.

(5) He acknowledges his paternity of the child in a writing filed in accordance with provisions of the legitimation statute.

(6) He and the child's mother have executed an affidavit of paternity in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(b) A presumption of paternity under this section may be rebutted in an appropriate action only by clear and convincing evidence. In the event two or more conflicting presumptions arise, that which is founded upon the weightier considerations of public policy and logic, as evidenced by the facts, shall control. The presumption of paternity is rebutted by a court decree establishing paternity of the child by another man.

(a) A child, a child's natural mother, or a man presumed to be the child's father under subdivision (1), (2), or (3) of Section 26-17-5(a), may bring an action at any time for the purpose of declaring the existence of the father and child relationship presumed under subdivision (1), (2), or (3) of Section 26-17-5(a), but for purposes of support, the action shall be brought before the child reaches the age of 19; or

(b) Any interested party may bring an action at any time for the purpose of determining the existence or non-existence of the father and child relationship presumed under subdivision (4) or (5) or (6) of Section 26-17-5(a).

(c) An action to determine the existence of the father and child relationship with respect to a child who has no presumed father under Section 26-17-5 may be brought by the child, the mother, or personal representative of the child, the public authority chargeable by law with support of the child, the personal representative or a parent of the mother if the mother has died, a man alleged or alleging himself to be the father, or the personal representative or a parent of the alleged father if the alleged father has died or is a minor.

(d) If an action under this section is brought before the birth of the child, all proceedings shall be stayed until after the birth, except service of process and the taking of depositions to perpetuate testimony.

(e) If the child has been adopted, an action may not be brought.

Actions commenced under this chapter by the Department of Human Resources shall be in the name of the State of Alabama on relation of the complaining witness or party against the person claimed to be the father or against the person alleged to owe a duty of support as the defendant. In any action brought by the department, the district attorney, special prosecutor, or attorney otherwise authorized to represent the State of Alabama shall appear and prosecute the proceedings brought under this chapter.

(a) The father's liabilities for past education and necessary support are limited to a period of two years next preceding the commencement of an enforcement action under this chapter unless an order of support has been previously entered.

(b) An action to determine paternity for the purposes of obtaining support shall not be brought after the child attains age 19.

(c) The provisions of this section and Section 26-17-6 do not extend the time within which a right of inheritance or a right to a succession may be asserted beyond the time provided by law relating to distribution and closing of decedents' estates or to the determination of heirship, or otherwise.

(a) An action under this chapter is a civil action governed by the rules of civil procedure. The mother and child and the alleged father are competent to testify and may be compelled to testify. All of the provisions of Sections 26-17-12 and 26-17-13, including those regarding evidence, expert testimony and blood tests, shall apply in actions brought under this chapter. The action brought may be joined with an action for divorce, annulment, separate maintenance or support.

(b) An action to determine paternity may be commenced upon the complaint of any female who is pregnant with or the mother of a child.

(c) An action to determine paternity may also be commenced upon the complaint of the child, the person having legal custody of the child or the representative of the public authority chargeable by law with the support of the child.

(d) A complaint for nonsupport of a child may be commenced by complaint by any party listed in subsections (b) and (c) of this section alleging sufficient facts that the defendant owes a duty of support, provided, that support payments have not been ordered previously pursuant to a decree of divorce. Upon a showing that the child is owed a duty of support by the defendant, such duty may be established pursuant to the requirements of Section 26-17-14.

(e) In addition to the civil action for nonsupport provided by this section, applicable sections of the criminal code are available for enforcement of the child's right of support.