Libro Primero · Título II Capítulo V. Paternidad y filiación extramatrimonial

Children procreated outside of marriage enjoy equal rights as children born of marriage; however, for them to live in the conjugal home the express consent of the other spouse is required.

When parentage does not result from the marriage nor from the registered de facto union of the parents, it is established and proved, in relation to the mother, by the mere fact of birth; and, with respect to the father, by voluntary recognition, or by judicial judgment declaring paternity. 46 47 48

Voluntary acknowledgment may be made:

1.In the birth entry, by appearance before the civil registrar;

2.By special record before the same registrar;

3.By public deed;

4.By will; and

5.By judicial confession.51 52 In the cases of the last three subparagraphs of this article, a notarial copy or certification of the document in which the acknowledgment is recorded must be presented to the civil registrar for its registration and annotation of the respective birth entry.

by the person who made it. If it has been made in a will and the latter is revoked, the recognition is not deemed revoked. Nor may it be subjected to any modality.

The recognition made by means of a will is valid, even if the latter is declared void for lack of special testamentary requirements that would not have invalidated the act if only the recognition had been granted.

Parents may recognize the child jointly or separately.

Recognition made by only one of the parents produces effects only with respect to that parent.

The father or the mother who did not intervene in the act, as well as the child himself or a third party with a legitimate interest, may challenge the recognition within six months counted from the day on which such fact became known to them.

If the child is a minor, he may oppose the recognition within the year following his reaching majority.

When the father or the mother makes the recognition separately, they shall not be obliged to reveal the name of the person with whom they had the child.

The father shall not be permitted to recognize children, attributing maternity to a woman married to another person, unless the husband has challenged paternity and obtained a favorable judgment.

In case of death or incapacity of the father or the mother, the child may be recognized by the paternal grandfather or by the maternal grandfather, respectively.

If the incapacitated person recovers health, he or she may challenge the recognition within the year following the day on which he or she has knowledge of that fact.

A male minor may not recognize a child without the consent of those who exercise parental authority over him, or of the person under whose guardianship he is, or, in the absence thereof, without judicial authorization.

A woman over fourteen years of age does have the civil capacity necessary to recognize her children, without the need to obtain the consent referred to in the preceding article.

The woman who has cared for a child as her own child, and has provided for his subsistence and education, has the right not to have him separated from her by effect of the acknowledgment of the minor made by a man. But if she is compelled to surrender him by judicial decision, the father who intends to take him away shall previously pay the amount expended on the child's support.

A child who was not voluntarily recognized has the right to petition that his parentage be judicially declared, and this right never prescribes with respect to him.

The heirs of the child may continue the action that he left initiated at the time of his death or initiate it if the child died during his minority, or if he had suffered from incapacity and died in that state.

Paternity may be judicially declared:

1º.Where there are letters, writings or documents in which it is acknowledged;

2º.Where the claimant is in notorious possession of the status of child of the alleged father;

3º.In cases of rape, statutory rape or abduction, where the time of the crime coincides with that of conception; and

4º.Where the alleged father has lived in a marital manner with the mother during the time of conception.

5º.Where the result of the biological test, of Deoxyribonucleic Acid -DNA-, scientifically determines parentage with the alleged father, mother and child.

If the alleged father refuses to submit to the performance of said test, ordered by a competent judge, his refusal shall be taken as evidence of paternity, except evidence to the contrary.

The Deoxyribonucleic Acid -DNA- test shall be ordered by a competent judge, and may be performed in any public or private institution, national or foreign, specialized in such matter. This means of evidence shall comply with the requirements established by law for its admissibility. In actions challenging

vil] upon conducting the corresponding study of the thesis of the appellant in cassation, concerning the scientific Deoxyribonucleic Acid evidence, it is determined that he seeks to have it assessed through the system of sound critical judgment, in accordance with the cited Article 127 which he alleges was violated; however, it must be borne in mind that this provision in its third paragraph establishes that such assessment (sound critical judgment) shall be made unless statutory text provides otherwise and in the present case, the means of evidence in question, in accordance with Article 221 of the Civil Code, which provides: "... paternity may be judicially declared (...) 5º. where the result of the biological evidence, of Deoxyribonucleic Acid -DNA-, scientifically determines parentage with the alleged father,

paternity or maternity, the molecular genetic Deoxyribonucleic Acid -DNA- evidence shall be admissible under the same conditions and circumstances.

In paternity and parentage proceedings, the competent judge may order the National Institute of Forensic Sciences -INACIF- to perform the Deoxyribonucleic Acid test, applying total relief from the fee established in the respective tariff and the time set for such purpose.

Those presumed to be children of parents who have lived together maritally:

1.Those born after one hundred eighty days counted from when they began their de facto relationship; and,

2.Those born within the three hundred days following the day on which the common life ceased.

Against the presumption of the present article, biological Deoxyribonucleic Acid -DNA- evidence is admitted.

For there to be notorious possession of status, it is required that the alleged child has been treated as such by his parents or the relatives of the latter and that, in addition, any of the following circumstances concurs:

1st. That they have provided for his subsistence and education;

2nd. That the child has constantly and publicly used the father's surname; and

3rd. That the child has been presented as such in the family's social relations.

as the biological father of the child, since they share genetic alleles. Based on the analysis of the fifteen reported markers, the father under study has a 99.9999969003% probability of being the biological father of the child in a Parentage Action after the death of the parents

The parentage action may only be brought during the lifetime of the father or mother against whom it is directed, except in the following cases:

1º.When the child is posthumous;

2º.When the person against whom the action is directed had died during the minority of the child; and

3º.In the cases mentioned in Article 221.

The mother has the right to be compensated for moral damage in cases of criminal carnal intercourse, or of minority at the time of conception.

The action granted in the preceding article and the declaration referred to in subparagraphs 3º and 4º of Article 221 do not proceed in the following cases:

1º.If during the period of conception, the mother *led a notoriously disorderly life, or had carnal intercourse with a person other than the alleged father; and

2º.If during the period of conception it was manifestly impossible for the defendant to have carnal access to the mother.

Voluntary and judicial recognition are declaratory acts of paternity and, consequently, produce their effects from the date of birth of the child.

No settlement or arbitration agreement of any kind may be entered into with respect to the status of child; but it may be entered into with respect to pecuniary rights that may be derived from parentage.