In divorce actions, for example, most states start with assumption that the husband is the father of all of the children borne to a woman during her marriage to him. At one time, under Lord Mansfield’s rule, all the children borne to a married women were assumed to be her husband’s. In this a woman’s husband is termed the putative father.

DNA testing permits men to rebut this presumption of paternity and in some jurisdiction in certain cases to refute it. To rebut or refute a presumption requires clear and convincing evidence that it is wrong or false, although the practices on this exception vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

See Lord Mansfield’s Rule; Clear and Convincing.

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