Uniform Parentage Act

The Uniform Parentage Act was approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) on August 3 and continues forward in its process thanks at least in part to ERICSA's Policy and Legislation Committee, Susan Paikin and the entire ERICSA Board, who passed the resolution below at our May meeting in support of the Act.  

President Bruce Gaunt.

A RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the establishment of parentage is a critical part of the child support enforcement program;

WHEREAS, ERICSA is an association dedicated, from its inception 37 years ago, to improving the establishment of parentage and the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations across state lines;

WHEREAS, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) established a drafting committee to revise the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) adopted in 1973 and to integrate into the proposed revision the best provisions of the UPA, along with provisions of the Uniform Putative and Unknown Fathers Act and the Uniform Status of Children of Assisted Conception Act;

WHEREAS, the NCCUSL recognized the expanding role of the Title IV-D program, and, as in the case of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), invited ERICSA to send an official observer to participate in the drafting of the revised Uniform Parentage Act;

WHEREAS, during its three years of deliberations, the drafting committee has invited and responded to comments of ERICSA Board and membership in order to draft an act that responds to the IV-D mandates and innovations contained in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) and other federal legislation, including in the Proposed Revision of the UPA a new Article 3, Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity;

WHEREAS, the drafters have also recognized and responded to the major improvements in genetic testing that have taken place since 1973 by including in the Proposed Revision of the UPA an expanded Article 5, Genetic Testing;

WHEREAS, UIFSA did not address the substantive law for litigating interstate paternity cases and the Proposed Revision of the Uniform Parentage Act will dramatically improve that law, providing a proper child-centered Act that also balances and protects the rights of mothers and both presumed and putative fathers;

WHEREAS, case law on such issues as the disestablishment of paternity and the status of presumptive parenthood varies greatly from state to state and ERICSA recognizes the need for a more consistent approach in an era where approximately 30 percent of the family support litigation crosses state lines;

WHEREAS, the Proposed Revision of the Uniform Parentage Act will be presented to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws for a vote at its annual meeting July 27 through August 4, 2000 in St. Augustine, Florida;

WHEREAS, the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has already endorsed the Proposed Revision of the Uniform Parentage Act;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED this 25th day of May, 2000 that the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association, its President and its Board of Directors, endorses the final version of the Proposed Revision of the Uniform Parentage Act and urges the Conference to adopt the Proposed Revision at its forthcoming meeting.

T. Vernon Drew, President