Establishing Parentage

A note before we begin: This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a Colorado family law attorney.

Your Situation

If you have a child and you weren't married to the other parent when the child was born, the law doesn't automatically recognize both of you as legal parents the way it does for married couples. Establishing parentage — the legal recognition of a parent-child relationship — is the step that makes that relationship official in the eyes of the court. It matters enormously, because without an established legal parentage, there is no foundation for a parenting plan, parenting time, decision-making authority, or child support. These rights and duties flow from the legal parent-child relationship.

Colorado treats this relationship the same whether or not the parents were ever married. Once parentage is established, both parents carry equal rights, privileges, duties, and obligations toward the child. This guide will help you understand what the law requires, how courts handle parentage cases in practice, and what concrete steps you can take to either establish or, in some cases, challenge a parentage determination.

What the Law Requires

Colorado's parentage framework comes from the state's Uniform Parentage Act. A court order determining whether a parent-child relationship exists is determinative for all legal purposes — meaning once the court decides, that finding controls everything that follows, including support and parenting time.

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Parentage of a child is generally not decided inside a divorce or annulment case between the parents — it's handled through a separate parentage proceeding.

There are several legal bases a court can use to find that someone is a parent: a child born during or within 300 days after a marriage or its termination; an attempted marriage, even if invalid; a post-birth marriage combined with a written acknowledgment, a birth certificate listing, or a support obligation; openly receiving the child into one's home; a written acknowledgment of parentage filed with the court or the registrar of vital statistics; or genetic testing showing a 97% or higher probability of parentage. Maternity can be established by proof of giving birth or by other proof under the parentage statutes, and — importantly — a woman can be recognized as a natural mother even without a biological tie.

You have the right to request genetic testing, and the law is clear that asking for it cannot be held against you when the court decides parenting time and decision-making. But timing is critical: you must obtain genetic test results and submit them into evidence before the court establishes parentage and issues final orders. If you wait until after final orders are entered, that evidence may be permanently barred.

A parentage case is decided by a judge, not a jury — no party can demand a jury trial. Where parentage is disputed and a party refuses to cooperate with court-ordered genetic testing, or fails to appear for the scheduled appointment, the court has authority to enter orders against that person, up to and including a finding that they are the legal father by default.

A parentage case must be filed in a proper venue: the county where the child or the other alleged parent lives, a county providing public assistance for the child, or, for a deceased alleged parent, the county where probate was filed. A Colorado court generally cannot hear a custody petition if the child is not a resident and is not present in the state when the case is filed.

Finally, the law allows a person named as a father in a support or parentage order to move to modify or set aside that order based on DNA evidence of non-paternity — but only within two years of the date the support order was entered, and only after a required hearing. Relief is absolutely barred in three situations: if the person acknowledged paternity knowing he was not the father, if he adopted the child, or if the child was conceived through assisted reproduction.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, Colorado courts handle parentage through the Uniform Parentage Act and weigh the statutory factors governing presumptions of parentage. A mother seeking to identify the father, a father seeking recognition of his status, or the child can each start a paternity proceeding.

When genetic testing is involved, courts typically require the child, the petitioner, and the respondent all to submit to testing — not just the alleged father. If a party doesn't show up for a scheduled test, courts have the authority to declare paternity by default, so non-attendance is treated as a serious act, not a neutral one. Once results come back, the court sets the matter for a hearing where the results become central evidence.

Courts can order practical consequences directly tied to the parentage finding. A parentage order can change a birth certificate — adding or removing a parent's name — without any separate administrative process. If the court finds that someone is not a legal parent, that order extinguishes all of that person's legal rights and responsibilities toward the child going forward. Courts can also assess costs, including genetic testing costs, against a party depending on the outcome.

In juvenile parentage and child support cases, the court-appointed professional who represents a child's best interests is a guardian ad litem, and qualifying low-income parties may receive a state-paid one. Be realistic about the range of outcomes: results depend on the evidence, testing, and the statutory factors, and the court retains discretion throughout.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Figure out whether you're establishing parentage or challenging it. If your goal is to have someone recognized as a legal parent, you're starting an establishment case. If your goal is to deny or disestablish parentage, that's a different type of case. Getting this right at the outset prevents filing the wrong kind of case.

2. Confirm the right county to file in. File where the child or the other alleged parent lives, where public assistance is provided for the child, or — for a deceased alleged parent — where probate was filed. Filing in the wrong county can cause delay or dismissal.

3. Open the case. Starting a parentage case involves a petition, a case information sheet, a summons, and a proposed final order, plus the filing fee (or a request to waive it if you can't afford it). Rather than tracking down and hand-filling these forms, let the site's guided wizard interview you and prepare and pre-fill the correct paperwork for your situation.

4. Arrange service on the other party. After the clerk stamps and numbers your documents, you are responsible for having the other party formally served. The case can move forward even if that party doesn't file a response.

5. Address genetic testing early. If both parents agree to testing, that agreement can be signed and filed so the court turns it into an order. If one party won't agree, the other can file a motion asking the court to order testing. Before filing anything, contact a court-approved lab, schedule the appointment, and confirm the type of test, the cost per person, the lab's full address, and what ID each person must bring. Schedule the appointment at least a month before any hearing. The wizard can prepare the testing motion or agreement for you.

6. Make sure everyone attends the test. The child, the petitioner, and the respondent all need to appear at the scheduled time and place. Document your own attendance, because missing the appointment can lead to a default finding against the person who didn't show.

7. Attend the hearing. Once results come back, the court sets a hearing. Be prepared to appear and to address next steps such as a parenting plan and support.

8. Keep the court informed. Notify the court in writing of any address or employment change within 10 days. Missing a notice because the court couldn't reach you can lead to adverse rulings.

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Do not sign an Admission of Paternity if you have any doubt you are the father — signing it waives your right to genetic testing, a hearing, an attorney, and the chance to present evidence.

What Research Shows Can Help

The items available here focus on the legal process for establishing parentage rather than on social science findings about outcomes. Because of that, there is limited research-based guidance to offer on this specific topic. Rather than speculate, it's more honest to say that the strongest thing you can do is resolve parentage — and any testing — while your case is still pending, so that the foundation for your child's support and parenting arrangements is solid and not reopened later.

What to Do Today

• Decide whether you're trying to establish parentage or challenge an existing claim, so you start the right kind of case.
• Write down which county you'd file in — where the child lives, where the other parent lives, or where public assistance is provided.
• Call a court-approved genetic testing lab and ask about the type of test, cost per person, the lab's full address, and required ID — so you're ready to move quickly if testing is needed.
• If paperwork is what's standing between you and progress, start the guided wizard so the correct forms are prepared and pre-filled for your situation.
• If you've been asked to sign anything admitting paternity, don't sign until you're certain — signing gives up your right to testing and a hearing.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

Child support. Establishing parentage is the legal prerequisite to any child support order. Once parentage is confirmed, child support is calculated from both parents' combined income as if the family were intact, and the court can order support retroactive to physical separation, filing, or service — so the sooner parentage is resolved, the sooner (and further back) support can be addressed.

Creating the parenting plan. With parentage established, the next question is how time and decision-making get divided. The parenting plan is decided on the child's best interests, with the child's safety paramount — and remember, asking for genetic testing cannot be held against you in this allocation.

Missed or modified parenting time. Once a parenting plan exists, you'll want to understand how the court handles denied or disrupted parenting time, including remedies like makeup time, so you know your options if the arrangement isn't being honored.

Third-party and grandparent rights. A parentage case can affect who else has standing to seek contact. A paternity action is treated as a custody case for purposes of grandparent visitation standing, so be aware that establishing parentage can open the door for a grandparent or great-grandparent to petition for family time.