Quiz 3 Flashcards
Nonmarital child
A child born to parents who are not married to each other and who do not legitimate the child; illegitimate child.
Legal guardian
A court appointed individual who is legally responsible for the care of a minor child.
Affidavit of paternity
a man’s signed sworn statement containing facts that the man is the father of a child, often required if a man not married to the child’s mother wishes to be listed on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s father.
Rebuttable presumption
An assumption or inference drawn from certain facts, known to be true, that will be disproved by introducing evidence that the assumption is false, such as the presumption that the man is the biological father of a child born to a woman he is married to, which could be rebutted by the introduction of uncontroverted evidence that another man is the child’s father.
paternity action
where the petitioning party, usually the child’s mother but occasionally the father, requests that the court hold a hearing to establish whether a particular man is the child’s biological father.
DNA test
a genetic testing in which deoxyribonucleic acid is extracted from body cells to determine a relationship between two or more persons; this test is used to determine paternity.
Putative father
a man who is suspected of being or believed to be the biological father of a child born out of wedlock.
presumed father
the man presumed to be the father of a child for several reasons such as having been married to the child’s mother when the child was born, or because he married the child’s mother after the child was born and agreed to have his name be put on the birth certificate.
De Facto father
at common law, a man who signs a child’s birth certificate and/or completes an affidavit or acknowledgement of paternity, is deemed to be the child’s father before the law.
Mandatory reporter
a professional who is required by state statute to report suspected child abuse or neglect
parens patriae
The Latin term for the legal doctrine empowering the state to intervene to protect children when parents or guardians fail to do so
Mandatory reporting laws
Statutes requiring designated professionals to report suspected child abuse and neglect
Permissive reporters
an individual who reports suspected child abuse and neglect, but it is not legally obligated by statute to do so.
Family preservation
the legal requirement that state child protection services must make reasonable efforts to maintain children with their families or reunify them.
Reasonable efforts
to maintain children with their families, to reunify them, once the parents have have received short-term, family-focused, and community-based services.
