AN ACT Relating to paternity; amending RCW 74.20A.020, 70.58.080, 26.26.030, and 26.26.040; and adding a new section to chapter 74.20A RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 2, chapter 164, Laws of 1971 ex. sess. as last amended by section 4, chapter 276, Laws of 1985 and RCW 74.20A.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, the following words and phrases as hereinafter used in this chapter and chapter 74.20 RCW shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Department" means the state department of social and health services.

(2) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social and health services, his designee or authorized representative.

(3) "Dependent child" means any person:

(a) Under the age of ((~~twenty-one who is not otherwise emancipated,~~)) eighteen who is not self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States; or

(b) Over the age of eighteen, but under the age of twenty-one, for whom a court order for support exists.

(4) "Support obligation" means the obligation to provide for the necessary care, support, and maintenance, including medical expenses, of a dependent child or other person as required by statutes and the common law of this or another state.

(5) "Superior court order" means any judgment, decree, or order of the superior court of the state of Washington, or a court of comparable jurisdiction of another state, establishing the existence of a support obligation and ordering payment of a set or determinable amount of support moneys to satisfy the support obligation. For purposes of RCW 74.20A.055, orders for support which were entered under the uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act by a state where the responsible parent no longer resides shall not preclude the department from establishing an amount to be paid as current and future support.

(6) "Administrative order" means any determination, finding, decree, or order for support issued by the department pursuant to RCW 74.20A.055, or by an agency of another state pursuant to a substantially similar administrative process, establishing the existence of a support obligation and ordering the payment of a set or determinable amount of support moneys to satisfy the support obligation.

(7) "Responsible parent" means a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent of a dependent child. It also means a person who has signed an affidavit acknowledging paternity which has been filed with vital records.

(8) "Stepparent" means the present spouse of the person who is either the mother, father, or adoptive parent of a dependent child, and such status shall exist and continue as provided for in RCW 26.16.205 until the relationship is terminated by death or dissolution of marriage.

(9) "Support moneys" means any moneys or in-kind providings paid to satisfy a support obligation whether denominated as child support, spouse support, alimony, maintenance, or any other such moneys intended to satisfy an obligation for support of any person or satisfaction in whole or in part of arrears or delinquency on such an obligation.

(10) "Support debt" means any delinquent amount of support moneys which is due, owing, and unpaid under a superior court order or an administrative order, a debt for the payment of expenses for the reasonable or necessary care, support, and maintenance, including medical expenses, of a dependent child or other person for whom a support obligation is owed; or a debt under RCW 74.20A.100 or 74.20A.270. Support debt also includes any accrued interest, fees, or penalties charged on a support debt, and attorneys fees and other costs of litigation awarded in an action to establish and enforce a support obligation or debt.

(11) "State" means any state or political subdivision, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Sec. 2. Section 12, chapter 83, Laws of 1907 as last amended by section 8, chapter 5, Laws of 1961 ex. sess. and RCW 70.58.080 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Within ten days of the birth of any child, the attending physician or midwife shall ((~~file~~)):

(a) Fill out a certificate of birth, ((~~properly and completely filled out,~~)) giving all of the particulars required, including the mother's name and date of birth, and the father's name and date of birth, if the mother and father are married at the time of birth or the father has signed an acknowledgement of paternity; and

(b) File the certificate of birth together with the mother's and father's social security numbers with the local registrar of the district in which the birth occurred((~~, within ten days after the birth~~)):

(i) The local registrar shall forward the birth certificate and the mother's and father's social security numbers to the state office of vital statistics within ten days; and

(ii) Vital statistics shall make the birth certificates, the mother's and father's social security numbers and paternity affidavits available to the office of support enforcement.

(2) Upon the birth of a child to an unmarried woman, the attending physician or midwife or their agent shall:

(a) Provide an opportunity for the child's mother and natural father, if known, to complete an affidavit acknowledging paternity, and file the completed affidavit with the local registrar of the district in which the birth occurred. The affidavit shall contain or have attached:

(i) A sworn statement by the mother consenting to the assertion of paternity and stating that this is the only possible father;

(ii) A statement by the father that he is the natural father of the child;

(iii) Written information, furnished by the department of social and health services, explaining the implications of signing, including parental rights and responsibilities; and

(iv) The social security numbers of both parents.

(b) Provide written information, furnished by the department of social and health services, to the mother regarding the benefits of having her child's paternity established and of the availability of paternity establishment services, including a request for support enforcement services.

(c) Be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable costs, which the department shall establish by regulation, when an affidavit acknowledging paternity is filed with the registrar.

(3) If there is no attending physician or midwife, the father or mother of the child, householder or owner of the premises, manager or superintendent of the public or private institution in which the birth occurred, shall notify the local registrar, within ten days after the birth, of the fact of the birth, and the local registrar shall secure the necessary information and signature to make a proper certificate of birth.

(4) When an infant is found for whom no certificate of birth is known to be on file, a birth certificate shall be filed within the time and in the form prescribed by the state board of health.

(5) When no putative father is named on a birth certificate of a child born to an unwed mother the mother may give any surname she so desires to her child but shall designate in space provided for father's name on the birth certificate "None Named".

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.20A RCW to read as follows:

(1) If a person has signed an affidavit acknowledging paternity filed with vital records, the office of support enforcement may serve a notice and finding of parental responsibility on such person. Service of the notice shall be in the same manner as a summons in a civil action or by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall have attached to it a copy of the affidavit and shall state that:

(a) A person so served may file an application for an adjudicative proceeding where the person will be required to appear and show cause why the amount stated in the finding of financial responsibility as to support is incorrect and should not be ordered;

(b) A person so served may request that a blood test be administered to determine whether such test would exclude the person from being a natural parent and, if not excluded, may subsequently request that the office of support enforcement initiate an action in superior court to determine the existence of the parent-child relationship; and

(c) If the person does not request that a blood test be administered or file an application for an adjudicative proceeding, the facts as to parentage and the amount of support stated in the notice and finding of parental responsibility shall become final, subject only to a subsequent determination under RCW 26.26.060 that the parent-child relationship does not exist.

(2) A person who objects to the amount of support requested in the notice shall have the right, for not more than twenty days from the date of service of the notice, to file an application for an adjudicative proceeding. An application for an adjudicative proceeding may be filed at any time upon a showing of good cause for the person's failure to timely file. An application for an adjudicative proceeding shall be in writing and shall be served on the office of support enforcement personally or by registered or certified mail. This adjudicative proceeding shall be pursuant to RCW 74.20A.055 and shall be limited in issue to the amount of the accrued debt, the amount of the current and future support obligation, and reimbursement of the costs of blood tests if advanced by the department. If a person fails to file an application for adjudicative proceeding, amounts claimed in the notice shall become final and the debt created therein shall be subject to collection action.

(3) A person who denies being a responsible parent shall have the right, for not more than twenty days from the date of service of the notice, to request that a blood test be administered. Such test may be requested at any time upon a showing of good cause for the person's failure to make a timely request. The request for testing shall be in writing and served on the office of support enforcement personally or by registered or certified mail.

(a) If a request for testing is made, the department may advance the cost of such testing to the person and shall mail a copy of the test results by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person's last know address. If the test excludes the person from being a natural parent, the office of support enforcement shall file a copy of the results with vital records and shall dismiss any pending administrative collection proceedings based upon the affidavit in issue. Upon receipt of the test results excluding the person, vital records shall remove the person's name from the birth certificate.

(b) The person shall have the right for not more than twenty days from the date of mailing of the test results to request that the office of support enforcement initiate an action under RCW 26.26.060 to determine the existence of the parent-child relationship.

If the office of support enforcement initiates a superior court action at the request of the person and the decision of the court is that the person is a natural parent, the person shall be liable for court costs incurred.

(c) If no request to initiate a superior court action is made, or if the person fails to appear and cooperate with blood testing, the notice of parental responsibility shall become final for all intents and purposes and may be overturned only by a subsequent superior court order entered under RCW 26.26.060.

Sec. 4. Section 4, chapter 42, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. as amended by section 86, chapter 7, Laws of 1985 and RCW 26.26.030 are each amended to read as follows:

The parent and child relationship between a child and:

(1) The natural mother may be established by proof of her having given birth to the child, or under this chapter;

(2) The natural father may be established:

(a) Under this chapter; or

(b) For all intents and purposes when he and the natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, or within three hundred days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, divorce, dissolution, or after a decree of separation is entered by the court; or

(c) For all intents and purposes except custody, visitation, and residential time when an affidavit acknowledging paternity has been filed with vital statistics.

(d) A parent may rebut the paternity relationship established under (c) of this subsection if the parent has been excluded from being the natural parent by blood tests, or a subsequent determination is made under RCW 26.26.060 that the parent-child relationship does not exist.

(3) An adoptive parent may be established by proof of adoption or under the provisions of chapter 26.33 RCW.

Sec. 5. Section 5, chapter 42, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. and RCW 26.26.040 are each amended to read as follows:

A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if:

(1) ((He and the child's natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, or within three hundred days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, divorce, or dissolution, or after a decree of separation is entered by a court;

~~(2)~~)) Before the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born within three hundred days after the termination of cohabitation;

((~~(3)~~)) (2) After the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have married, or attempted to marry, each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and

(a) ((~~he has acknowledged his paternity of the child in writing filed with the registrar of vital statistics,~~

~~(b)~~)) with his consent, he is named as the child's father on the child's birth certificate, or

((~~(c)~~)) (b) he is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order;

((~~(4)~~)) (3) While the child is under the age of majority, he receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his child; or

((~~(5)~~)) (4) He acknowledges his paternity of the child in a writing filed with the registrar of vital statistics, who shall promptly inform the mother of the filing of the acknowledgment, and she does not dispute the acknowledgment within a reasonable time after being informed thereof, in a writing filed with the registrar of vital statistics. If another man is presumed under subsections (1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section to be the child's father, such acknowledgment shall give rise to the presumption of paternity only with the written consent of the otherwise presumed father or after such other presumption has been rebutted.

A presumption under this section may be rebutted in an appropriate action only by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. If two or more presumptions arise which conflict with each other, the presumption which on the facts is founded on the weightier considerations of policy and logic controls. The presumption is rebutted by a court decree establishing paternity of the child by another man.