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Definition Parentage - the relationship between a parent and a child.
Application in Divorce In law, parentage refers to kindred in a direct ascending line -- child to mother, child to father.

Sometime the term is used loosely in connection with paternity, when the father of a child is issue in doubt, but more accurately describes the relationship between a child and both parents.

In divorce actions, the parentage of a child of divorce is never breached.

The parentage of a child of a divorce is in no way changes in terms of his or her rights in the event of intestacy, Social Security survivor benefits, or any other right that accrues to him or her as a result of his or her relationship to a parent, either mother or father.

The parentage of a child includes the sum of what are termed parental rights, including the physical possession of the child, which in the case of the custodial parent, includes his or her day-to-day care and companionship as well as the disciplining of the child and his or her rearing with the parent’s moral and ethical standards; the right to manage a child’s earnings and property; the right to have a child carry the parent’s name; the right to be supported by an adult child; and the right to prevent the child from being involuntarily adopted. Parental rights are sometimes called the liberty interest a parent has in his or her children.

The children of annulled marriages are legitimate.

Married or divorced, parents retain all the legal responsibilities for their children, including support.

See Paternity and Paternity Establishment.

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