s.7Presumptions of paternity
7
Section 7Part 3 — ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY

Presumptions of paternity

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Unless the contrary is proven on a balance of probabilities, there is a presumption that a male person is, and shall be recognised in law to be, the father of a child in any one of the following circumstances —
the person was married to the mother of the child at the time of its birth;
the person was married to the mother of the child and that marriage was terminated by death or judgement of nullity within 280 days before the birth of the child, or by divorce where the decree nisi was granted within 280 days before the birth of the child;
the person marries the mother of the child after the birth of the child and acknowledges that he is the natural father;
the person was cohabiting with the mother of the child in a relationship of some permanence at the time of the birth of the child, or the child is born within 280 days after they ceased to cohabit;
the person has been adjudged or recognised in his lifetime by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the father of the child;
the person has, by affidavit sworn before a justice of the peace or a notary public or by other document duly attested and sealed, together with a declaration by the mother of the child contained in the same instrument confirming that the person is the father of the child, admitted paternity, but such affidavit or other document shall be of no effect unless it has been recorded with the Registrar General;
the person has acknowledged in proceedings for registration of the child, in accordance with the law relating to the registration of births, that he is the father of the child;
the mother of the child and a person acknowledging that he is the father of the child have signed and executed a deed to this effect in the presence of an attorney-at-law, but such a deed shall be of no effect unless it is notarised and recorded with the Registrar General prior to the death of the person acknowledging himself to be the father;
a person who is alleged to be the father of the child has given written consent to that child adopting his name in accordance with the law relating to the change of name; or
a person who is alleged to be the father of the child has by his conduct implicitly and consistently acknowledged that he is the father of the child.
Where circumstances exist that give rise to presumptions of paternity in respect of more than one father, no presumption shall be made as to paternity.

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