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257.55 PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY.
    Subdivision 1. Presumption. A man is presumed to be the biological father of a child if:
    (a) He and the child's biological mother are or have been married to each other and the child is
born during the marriage, or within 280 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment,
declaration of invalidity, dissolution, or divorce, or after a decree of legal separation is entered by
a court. The presumption in this paragraph does not apply if the man has joined in a recognition of
parentage recognizing another man as the biological father under section 257.75, subdivision 1a;
    (b) Before the child's birth, he and the child's biological 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 void, voidable, or otherwise invalid, and,
    (1) if the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born
during the attempted marriage, or within 280 days after its termination by death, annulment,
declaration of invalidity, dissolution or divorce; or
    (2) if the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 280
days after the termination of cohabitation;
    (c) After the child's birth, he and the child's biological 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 void, voidable, or otherwise invalid, and,
    (1) he has acknowledged his paternity of the child in writing filed with the state registrar of
vital statistics;
    (2) with his consent, he is named as the child's father on the child's birth record; or
    (3) he is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order;
    (d) While the child is under the age of majority, he receives the child into his home and
openly holds out the child as his biological child;
    (e) He and the child's biological mother acknowledge his paternity of the child in a writing
signed by both of them under section 257.34 and filed with the state registrar of vital statistics.
If another man is presumed under this paragraph to be the child's father, acknowledgment may
be effected only with the written consent of the presumed father or after the presumption has
been rebutted;
    (f) He and the child's biological mother have executed a recognition of parentage in
accordance with section 257.75 and another man is presumed to be the father under this
subdivision;
    (g) He and the child's biological mother have executed a recognition of parentage in
accordance with section 257.75 and another man and the child's mother have executed a
recognition of parentage in accordance with section 257.75; or
    (h) He and the child's biological mother executed a recognition of parentage in accordance
with section 257.75 when either or both of the signatories were less than 18 years of age.
    Subd. 2. Rebuttal. A presumption under this section may be rebutted in an appropriate
action only by clear and convincing evidence. If two or more presumptions arise which conflict
with each other, the presumption which on the facts is founded on the weightier considerations of
policy and logic controls. The presumption is rebutted by a court decree establishing paternity of
the child by another man.
History: 1980 c 589 s 5; 1983 c 308 s 4; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 96; 1989 c 282 art 2 s 161;
1Sp1993 c 1 art 6 s 35; 1995 c 207 art 10 s 7; 1995 c 216 s 1; 1995 c 257 art 4 s 4; 1Sp2001 c 9
art 15 s 32; 2006 c 280 s 2

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Revisor of Statutes