Challenging Paternity

Being the legal parent of a child comes with responsibilities. If you have been named the parent of a child and you do not believe you are the parent of the child, there are steps you can take to address the situation. Do not simply ignore the situation, as you could be responsible for child support.

There are many different situations where a person may want to challenge paternity. This page only gives examples of select situations. Like all legal cases, the exact procedures you need to follow can be very fact specific.

If you are married to the mother of the child and have a pending divorce case

The Iowa Judicial Branch provides a form Motion to Disestablish Legal Parent. This form should be filed if you would like to challenge paternity where you:

• are the child’s legal parent only because of your marriage to the child’s parent—meaning the child was conceived or born during your marriage—and
• have a pending divorce case in Iowa from the other parent

This form should not be used if paternity was established through a court order, affidavit, or legal action in another state.

After being served with a notice of alleged paternity and support debt by the Child Support Recovery Unit

Once served with notice of alleged paternity, you have 10 days from being served to request a conference with the Iowa Child Support Recovery Unit to discuss the action; 20 days from service to deny paternity; and a minimum of 20 days from service to ask for a court hearing. The time to request a hearing may be extended by having a conference, genetic testing, or both.

Iowa Code Chapter 252F and Iowa Administrative Code 441-99.21 through 99.32 cover administrative establishment of paternity. For more information, see the Iowa Child Support Recovery Unit’s Customer Handbook.

If you already signed a paternity affidavit but you now no longer believe you are the father

File a Rescission of Paternity Affidavit form. You must file a complete and notarized Rescission of Paternity Affidavit with the Bureau of Health Statistics, before either of the following happens:

• 60 days have passed since last notarized signature on the paternity affidavit form, or
• entry of a court order about the child

You can get a Rescission of Paternity Affidavit form from the Bureau of Health Statistics, your local County Recorder’s Office, the Iowa Department of Public Health, or your local Child Support Recovery Unit.

For more information, see the Iowa Child Support Recovery Unit’s Paternity Affidavit page.

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