The Oklahoma Bar Journal January 2026

similar to the court’s goals: follow the challenge procedures of the UPA so the issue of parentage is settled and not the subject of future litigation, ensure that all legal par ents and interested parties receive notice and an opportunity to be heard and protect the child’s best interests. Think about venue and where the parentage issues should be adjudicated – district court or administrative court. Consider in which district court case the parentage issues should be raised: in a prior divorce proceeding omitting a child of the marriage, in a new paternity action involving the alleged biological father or in a new action joining the mother, biological father and legal father (which might be appropriate in the absence of a prior divorce or pater nity action). Think about which parties should be joined to the action, who is entitled to notice and who should be genetically tested. where multiple legal fathers exist for one child, you may want to consider which claim should be addressed first and which claim has priority or should be rebutted before other claims are confirmed. This is where the timeline you plotted earlier will come in handy. Think about the moment when the presumption or acknowledgment attaches to the child by operation of law. For example, a marital presumption attaches to the child at the moment of the child’s birth when the child is born during a marriage. Whereas the two-year presumption attaches to the child at the moment both elements are satisfied: on the child’s second birthday, when the child has lived with the man for the first Multiple Fathers If you are handling a case

his own, other actions the parties have taken in identifying one father over the other, the extent to which a father-child relationship and bond exist between the child and any legal or alleged fathers and the other factors outlined in 10 O.S. §7700-608(B). These facts will show whether the court is likely to grant a request for genetic testing to challenge a legal father-child relationship, whether a GAL might be important given the facts in this case and which man should be determined to be the child’s father, considering the best interests of the child and the actions of the parties. In this moment of uncertainty about the biological father of the child, you may be tempted to suggest that the parties take an out-of-court genetic test. This is a risky move because the results will be inadmissible in a challenge proceeding, 54 and the results may cause harm to the child’s best interests. If the facts in the case reveal that the parties do not have a challenge claim that can be heard by the court or the best interest of the child would cause the court to deny the request for genetic testing, the court could determine that the legal father should be confirmed as the child’s father despite the out-of-court genetic test results. 55 The knowledge that the legal father is not the child’s biological father may contribute to a reduction in support, connection and belonging for the child. Resist this urge to conduct out-of-court genetic testing and come back to your timeline of facts to make a plan that follows the path outlined by the UPA. Identify the Parties and Their Goals Next, identify the parties, their goals and the steps for achieving these goals. CSS’s goals will be

In Oklahoma, the presence of a father’s name on the birth certifi cate indicates one of three things: He and the mother were married at the time of the child’s birth, the mother and father executed an acknowledgment of paternity, or the issue of paternity has been adjudicated and the addition of the father’s name on the birth cer tificate was ordered by a court. 50 Next, identify any children ever born to the mother in your case, 51 when those children were born and the dates of the mother’s current and prior marriages and divorces. Identify if any acknowl edgments of paternity pertaining to this child exist and when the document was executed. 52 Identify if a denial of paternity was executed and when, if appropri ate. Determine where and with whom the child has lived for the first two years of the child’s life. The answers to these questions are the first few points on your timeline and help to determine all legal parents that may exist for the child(ren) in this case. You may find that a child has compet ing legal fathers because multiple presumptions apply, or you may find that the man listed on the birth certificate is an “incomplete” legal father because his acknowl edgment is invalid in the absence of a denial of paternity or rebuttal of the marital presumption. 53 Identify the Father(s) Now that you have the essential events plotted on your timeline, it’s time to think about what legal father-child relationships exist for each child in your case based on the legal statuses defined above. Identify which man the child knows to be their father, whether any man has been holding the child out as

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

34 | JANUARY 2026

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL