The Rights of Unmarried Parents - Nevada

Definitions

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 128.016; 126.021; 126.051

The term 'putative father' means a person who is or is alleged or reputed to be the other parent of an nonmarital child.

The term 'parent and child relationship' means the legal relationship existing between a child and their natural or adoptive parents on which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges, duties, and obligations. It includes the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship. This subsection does not preclude a determination by a court that a child has such a legal relationship with more than two persons.

A person is presumed to be the natural other parent of a child if any of the following apply:

• The child's parents are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or within 285 days after the marriage is terminated.
• The child's parents were cohabiting for at least 6 months before the period of conception and continued to cohabit through the period of conception.
• Before the child's birth, the child's parents have attempted to marry each other, and either of the following apply:
  • If the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage, or within 285 days after its termination.
  • If the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 285 days after the termination of cohabitation.
• While the child is a minor, the person receives the child into their home and openly holds out the child as their natural child.

A conclusive presumption that a person is the natural parent of a child is established if tests for the typing of blood or genetic identification show a probability of 99 percent or more that they are is the genetic parent. That presumption may be rebutted if they establish that they have an identical sibling who may be the genetic parent.

Use of Parentage Registries

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 440.280; 440.283; 126.053

If the person who gave birth to the child was unmarried at the time of the child's birth, the name of the other parent may be entered on the original certificate of birth if the parents of the child have signed a declaration for the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage.

Before providing a declaration for the acknowledgment of parentage to the person who gave birth to the child or a person who wishes to acknowledge the parentage of the child, the hospital or other entity shall ensure that the person who gave birth to the child and the person who wishes to acknowledge parentage are given notice, orally and in writing, of the rights, responsibilities, and legal consequences of, and the alternatives to, signing the declaration for the acknowledgment of parentage.

A declaration for the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage shall be deemed to have the same effect as a judgment or order of a court determining the existence of the relationship of parent and child if the declaration is signed in this or any other State by the parents of the child. A declaration for the voluntary acknowledgment of parentage that is signed pursuant to this subsection is not required to be ratified by a court of this State before the declaration is deemed to have the same effect as a judgment or order of a court determining the existence of the relationship of parent and child.

Alternate Means to Establish Parentage

Citation: Rev. Stat. §§ 126.071; 126.131

A child, the birth parent, a person presumed or alleged to be the child's other parent, or an interested third party may bring an action pursuant to this chapter to declare the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship.

Evidence relating to parentage may include any of the following:

• Evidence of sexual intercourse between the birth parent and alleged other parent at any possible time of conception
• An expert's opinion concerning the statistical probability of the alleged other parent's parentage based upon the duration of the mother's pregnancy
• The results of any test for the typing of blood or taking of specimens for genetic identification that is of a type acknowledged as reliable and is performed by an accredited laboratory
• An expert's opinion concerning the results of a blood test or test for genetic identification, weighted in accordance with evidence, if available, of the statistical probability of the alleged other parent's parentage
• Medical or anthropological evidence relating to the alleged other parent's parentage of the child based on tests performed by experts
• All other evidence relevant to the issue of parentage of the child

Bills or receipts for the costs of medical care received during the pregnancy, the birth of the child, or tests for the typing of blood or taking of specimens for genetic identification to determine the parentage of the child are prima facie evidence of the amounts incurred for those services and are admissible as evidence without the foundational testimony of a third party.

Required Information

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 126.163(2)

Within 10 days after a court issues an order establishing the parentage of a child, each party to the cause of action shall file the following information with the court that issued the order and with the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services:

• The other parent's Social Security number
• The other parent's residential and mailing addresses
• The other parent's telephone number
• The other parent's driver's license number
• The name, address, and telephone number of the other parent's employer

Each party shall update the information filed with the court and with the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services within 10 days after the information on file becomes inaccurate.

Revocation of Claim to Parentage

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 126.053(2)

A person who signs an acknowledgment of parentage in this State may rescind the acknowledgment as follows:

• Within 60 days after the acknowledgment is signed by both persons
• Before the date on which an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child begins if that person is a party to the proceeding, whichever occurs earlier

After the expiration of the period during which an acknowledgment may be rescinded, the acknowledgment may not be challenged except upon the grounds of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. The burden of proof is on the person challenging the acknowledgment to establish that the acknowledgment was signed because of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.

Except upon a showing of good cause, a person's obligation for the support of a child must not be suspended during a hearing to challenge a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage.

Access to Information

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 440.280

The State registrar's file of orders and declarations must be sealed, and the contents of the file may be examined only upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction or at the request of either parent or the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services of the Department of Health and Human Services as necessary to carry out the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 654a.