Florida Paternity Law: Chapter 742, Determination of Parentage (2026)

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated August 2026

Fla. Stat. § 742.011 is where a Florida paternity case starts. It sits inside Chapter 742, titled “Determination of Parentage” — the chapter that decides who a child’s legal father is when the parents were not married, and that channels support and time-sharing into Chapter 61. This page walks through the sections that do the work.

What Is Chapter 742, and What Does § 742.011 Say?

Chapter 742 of the Florida Statutes is titled “Determination of Parentage.” It is the chapter that establishes who a child’s legal father is when the parents were not married, and it is the gateway to child support, parental responsibility and time-sharing for those families.

The entry point is § 742.011, whose catchline reads “Proceedings for determination of paternity, rights, and responsibilities; jurisdiction.” The section is short enough to quote nearly in full: “Any woman who is pregnant or has a child, any man who has reason to believe that he is the father of a child, or any child may bring proceedings in the circuit court, in chancery, to determine the paternity of the child when paternity has not been established by law or otherwise. After the birth of the child, a parent may request a determination of parental responsibility and child support and for the creation of a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule pursuant to chapter 61.”

Three things are worth pulling out. The petition may be filed by the mother, by a man who has reason to believe he is the father, or by the child. A pregnant woman may file before the birth. And the parenting-plan half of the relief is expressly routed through Chapter 61 — the same statute that governs time-sharing in a divorce.

How Is Paternity Established in Florida? (§ 742.10)

§ 742.10 is titled “Establishment of paternity for children born out of wedlock,” and § 742.10(1) opens by fixing the chapter’s role: “Except as provided in chapters 39 and 63, this chapter provides the primary jurisdiction and procedures for the determination of paternity for children born out of wedlock.”

The same subsection lists the routes that count as an establishment of paternity without a contested trial: a determination made in an adjudicatory hearing under inheritance or workers’ compensation statutes; “an affidavit acknowledging paternity or a stipulation of paternity … executed by both parties and filed with the clerk of the court”; a notarized voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, or one “witnessed by two individuals and signed under penalty of perjury as provided for in s. 382.013 or s. 382.016”; or an adjudication by the Department of Revenue under § 409.256.

Can a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity be undone?

Only within a narrow window, and afterward only on narrow grounds. § 742.10(1) provides that a properly executed acknowledgment “creates a rebuttable presumption, as defined by s. 90.304, of paternity and is subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within 60 days after the date the acknowledgment was signed or the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child … in which the signatory is a party, whichever is earlier.”

After that, § 742.10(4) takes over: a signed voluntary acknowledgment “shall constitute an establishment of paternity and may be challenged in court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger,” and the child support obligation “may not be suspended during the challenge, except upon a finding of good cause by the court.” Under § 742.10(5), “judicial or administrative proceedings are not required or permitted to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of paternity.”

Does signing the birth certificate give me custody or time-sharing?

No — and this is the single most misunderstood point in the chapter. § 742.10(5) says it directly: “Regardless of whether paternity is established in an action under s. 742.011 or this section, the determination of parental responsibility and child support and the creation of a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule must be established in an action brought under s. 742.011.” Establishing legal parentage and obtaining a time-sharing schedule are two separate steps; the acknowledgment accomplishes the first only. This channeling rule was added by ch. 2023-209.

What Do the DNA Testing Rules in § 742.12 Require?

§ 742.12 is titled “Scientific testing to determine paternity.” Under § 742.12(1), in any proceeding to establish paternity “the court on its own motion may require the child, mother, and alleged fathers to submit to scientific tests that are generally acceptable within the scientific community to show a probability of paternity,” and “shall direct that the tests be conducted by a qualified technical laboratory.”

§ 742.12(2) lets a party request testing, but only on a sworn statement or written declaration under § 92.525(2) that either alleges paternity and sets out “facts establishing a reasonable possibility of the requisite sexual contact between the parties” or denies paternity and sets out facts establishing a reasonable possibility that no such contact occurred.

Two numbers matter. First, an evidentiary deadline in § 742.12(3): “Any objection to the test results must be made in writing and must be filed with the court at least 10 days prior to the hearing. If no objection is filed, the test results shall be admitted into evidence without the need for predicate to be laid or third-party foundation testimony to be presented.” Second, the presumption threshold in § 742.12(4): “A statistical probability of paternity of 95 percent or more creates a rebuttable presumption, as defined by s. 90.304, that the alleged father is the biological father of the child.” If that presumption is not rebutted the court may enter summary judgment of paternity; and “if the test results show the alleged father cannot be the biological father, the case shall be dismissed with prejudice.”

Retesting is available under § 742.12(5) — the court “shall order that an additional test be made by the same laboratory or an independent laboratory at the expense of the party requesting additional testing.” Under § 742.12(7), testing fees and costs are otherwise “paid by the parties in proportions and at times determined by the court unless the parties reach a stipulated agreement which is adopted by the court.”

What Can the Court Order at the Paternity Hearing? (§ 742.031)

§ 742.031 is titled “Hearings; court orders for support, hospital expenses, and attorney fees.” Paternity hearings are private: § 742.031(1) requires that they “be held in the chambers and may be restricted to persons, in addition to the parties involved and their counsel, as the judge in his or her discretion may direct.”

The court’s two core tasks are stated in the same subsection: “The court shall determine the issues of paternity of the child and the ability of the parents to support the child.” It may also order the father to pay “reasonable attorney fees, hospital or medical expenses, cost of confinement, and any other expenses incident to the birth of the child,” and bills for pregnancy, childbirth and scientific testing “are admissible as evidence without requiring third-party foundation testimony and constitute prima facie evidence of amounts incurred.” Support itself is ordered “under chapter 61,” which means the guidelines in § 61.30.

A 2023 amendment (ch. 2023-213) added a mandatory temporary order: “The court must issue, upon motion by a party, a temporary order requiring child support for a minor child under s. 61.30 pending an administrative or judicial determination of parentage if there is clear and convincing evidence of paternity on the basis of genetic tests or other evidence.”

What happens if the judgment says nothing about time-sharing?

§ 742.031(2) supplies a default that catches many fathers by surprise: “If a judgment of paternity contains only a child support award with no parenting plan or time-sharing schedule, the obligee parent shall receive all of the time-sharing and sole parental responsibility without prejudice to the obligor parent. If a paternity judgment contains no such provisions, the mother shall be presumed to have all of the time-sharing and sole parental responsibility.” The phrase “without prejudice” matters: the other parent may still bring an action under § 742.011 for a parenting plan.

Can a temporary support order in a paternity case be changed?

Yes. § 742.031(4)(a) mirrors the Chapter 61 rule: a court may, “upon good cause shown and without a showing of a substantial change of circumstances, modify, vacate, or set aside a temporary support order before or upon entering a final order in a proceeding.” Under § 742.031(4)(b), the change may be retroactive to the date of the temporary order, to the date the initial petition was filed, or to a date prescribed in § 61.14(1)(a) or § 61.30(11)(c) or (17).

Can Paternity Be Disestablished in Florida? (§ 742.18)

Yes, but on strict conditions. § 742.18 is titled “Disestablishment of paternity or termination of child support obligation,” and § 742.18(1) explains that it “establishes circumstances under which a male may disestablish paternity or terminate a child support obligation when the male is not the biological father of the child.” The petition must be filed in the circuit court with jurisdiction over the support obligation and must include three things: an affidavit of “newly discovered evidence relating to the paternity of the child”; scientific test results “administered within 90 days prior to the filing of such petition” showing he cannot be the father (or an affidavit that he lacked access to the child for testing); and an affidavit that he is current or has substantially complied with support.

§ 742.18(2) then requires the court to grant relief only “upon a finding by the court of all of the following” seven items — including that the petitioner “has not adopted the child,” that the child “was not conceived by artificial insemination while the male … and the child’s mother were in wedlock,” that he “did not act to prevent the biological father … from asserting his paternal rights,” and that “the child was younger than 18 years of age when the petition was filed.”

§ 742.18(3) lists six categories of post-knowledge conduct that bar relief outright, including marrying the mother while known as the reputed father under § 742.091, disregarding “written notice from any state agency or any court directing him to submit to scientific testing,” or signing a voluntary acknowledgment under § 742.10(4).

Three consequences are worth knowing before filing. Under § 742.18(5), “relief shall be limited to the issues of prospective child support payments and termination of parental rights, custody, and visitation rights,” and the section “shall not be construed to create a cause of action to recover child support that was previously paid.” Under § 742.18(6), the duty to pay “shall not be suspended while the petition is pending except for good cause shown.” And under § 742.18(10), if relief is not granted, “the court shall assess the costs of the action and attorney’s fees against the petitioner.”

What If the Mother Was Married to Someone Else?

Chapter 742 addresses children born out of wedlock; a child born during a lawful marriage is presumed to be the husband’s. § 742.18(9) preserves that principle even where a disestablishment petition succeeds: “The rendition of an order granting a petition filed pursuant to this section shall not affect the legitimacy of a child born during a lawful marriage.” These cases turn on facts that vary considerably, and they are among the situations where early legal advice matters most.

What Is the Department of Revenue’s Role?

Two provisions define it. § 742.10(1) recognizes an adjudication of paternity by the Department of Revenue under § 409.256 as an establishment of paternity for purposes of the chapter, and § 742.10(5) preserves the department’s power to “establish child support by an administrative order pursuant to s. 409.2563.” Both parents must supply social security numbers — § 742.10(2) and § 742.031(3) both cite the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 — and disclosure of those numbers “shall be limited to the purpose of administration of the Title IV-D program for child support enforcement.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources & Related Reading

• Fla. Stat. ch. 742, Determination of Parentage — chapter index (Online Sunshine)
• Fla. Stat. § 742.011, Proceedings for determination of paternity, rights, and responsibilities — official text
• Fla. Stat. § 742.10, Establishment of paternity for children born out of wedlock — official text
• Fla. Stat. § 742.12, Scientific testing to determine paternity — official text
• Florida Family Law Forms, including paternity petitions — flcourts.gov
• Fla. Stat. § 61.13 — Parenting Plans & Time-Sharing
• Fla. Stat. § 61.30 — Child Support Guidelines
• Fla. Stat. § 61.14 — Modifying & Enforcing Support
• Paternity — Practice Area
• Father’s Rights in Florida

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.