A. A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if:
(1) he and the child's natural mother are or have been
married to each other and the child is born during the marriage
or within three hundred days after the marriage is terminated by
death, annulment, declaration of invalidity or dissolution of
marriage or after a decree of separation is entered by a court;
(2) before the child's birth, he and the child's natural
mother have attempted to marry each other by a marriage
solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the
attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
(a) if the attempted marriage could be declared invalid
only by a court, the child is born during the attempted
marriage or within three hundred days after its termination by
death, annulment, declaration of invalidity or divorce; or
(b) if the attempted marriage is invalid without a court
order, the child is born within three hundred days after the
termination of cohabitation;
(3) after the child's birth, he and the child's natural
mother have married or attempted to marry each other by a
marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although
the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and:
(a) he has acknowledged his paternity of the child in
writing filed with the vital statistics bureau of the public
health division of the department of health;
(b) with his consent, he is named as the child's father on
the child's birth certificate; or
(c) he is obligated to support the child under a written
voluntary promise or by court order;
(4) while the child is under the age of majority, he openly
holds out the child as his natural child and has established a
personal, financial or custodial relationship with the child; or
(5) he acknowledges his paternity of the child pursuant to
Section 24-14-13 NMSA 1978 or in writing filed with the vital
statistics bureau of the public health division of the
department of health, which shall promptly inform the mother of
the filing of the acknowledgment, and, within a reasonable time
after being informed of the filing, she does not dispute the
acknowledgment. In order to enforce the rights of custody or
visitation, a man presumed to be the father as a result of
filing a written acknowledgment shall seek an appropriate
judicial order in an action filed for that purpose. A signed
voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is considered a legal
finding of paternity, subject to the right of any signatory to
rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of:
(a) sixty days from the date of signing; or
(b) the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding
relating to the child, including a proceeding to establish a
support order, to which the signatory is a party. After sixty
days from the date of signing, the acknowledgment may be
challenged in court only on the grounds of fraud, duress or
material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the
challenger, although legal responsibilities arising from
signing the acknowledgment may not be suspended during the
challenge, except upon a showing of good cause. Judicial or
administrative proceedings are not required to ratify an
unchallenged acknowledgment.
B. If two or more men are presumed under this section to be the
child's father, an acknowledgment by one of them may be effective
only with the written consent of the other or pursuant to
Subsection C of this section.
C. A presumption under this section may be rebutted in an
appropriate action only by clear and convincing evidence. If two
or more men are presumed under this section to be the father of
the same child, paternity shall be established as provided in the
Uniform Parentage Act [40-11-1 to 40-11-23 NMSA 1978]. If the
presumption has been rebutted with respect to one man, paternity
of the child by another man may be determined in the same action
if he has been made a party.
D. A man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if,
pursuant to blood or genetic tests properly performed by a
qualified person and evaluated by an expert, including
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) probe technique tests under the
Uniform Parentage Act, the probability of his being the father is
ninety-nine percent or higher.
E. The voluntary acknowledgment of paternity must be recognized
as a basis for seeking a support order without requiring any
further proceedings to establish paternity.
F. Full faith and credit must be given to determination of
paternity made by other states, including acknowledgments of
paternity.
