"Establishing paternity" in Missouri means saying who the legal parents of a child are if the parents were not married when the child was born.

If the parents were married when the child was born, the law presumes the husband to be the father.

Parents who are not married when a child is born can sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity or authorization to be included on the birth Certificate before they leave the hospital, or after. When people who are not married can't agree about parentage, the court can order genetic testing.

Missouri paternity law authorizes blood tests in cases where parentage is disputed. The mother, child, and alleged father will be required to submit to these blood tests. If a party refuses to submit to blood tests then the court has the power to resolve the parentage issue against that party.

A child's parentage must be established before you can get child support or custody and visitation orders. You can ask the judge for child support or custody and visitation as part of a case that establishes the parentage of a child. Child Support, Custody and Visitation are established in the same manner as in a dissolution.