Practice area: Parentage

Establishing, acknowledging or challenging a parent-child relationship.

Parentage is the legal bond between a child and their parents. It determines, among other things, the child's name, parental authority, maintenance obligations, inheritance rights and, in some situations, nationality. When that bond has to be established, acknowledged, secured or challenged, it is important to have support in understanding the steps available and what they entail.

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Three generations of a family in a consultation, with a birth certificate and family record books

What this covers

Establishing, challenging and securing a parent-child relationship.

Parentage questions come in several forms: acknowledging a child, asking the court to establish a parent-child bond, challenging an existing parentage, or giving legal form to a family life that already exists day to day.

Parentage can be established by a voluntary acknowledgement, before or after the birth, or by proceedings before the Family Court. A challenge to parentage, for its part, may be considered where the legally established bond does not match the biological reality, or where the conditions laid down by law are met.

These cases touch on the child's identity, their family history and everyone's place in it. They may concern a parent who wishes to make their bond official, a person who challenges a parentage, or a child who has become an adult and is seeking to have their origins established.

Common situations

Varied situations, one central question: which parent-child relationship should the law recognise?

These steps are governed by strict conditions and time limits. It is therefore important to act quickly in order to assess the available options and protect your rights.

Acknowledging a child An acknowledgement can be made before or after the birth, where the legal conditions are met. Challenging a paternity or a maternity An already established parentage can be called into question in the cases and within the time limits laid down by law. Bringing a parentage claim Proceedings can be brought to have paternity or maternity established by the court, with genetic testing where necessary. Parentage after surrogacy abroad Some situations require parentage established or recorded abroad to be recognised in Belgium. Foreign birth certificate Where a foreign document records a parentage, it may be necessary to apply for its recognition or transcription in Belgium.

How I work

From the family history to the legal bond.

Piecing your family situation together, precisely.

The first step is to go back over the chronology of the facts and the documents: birth, acknowledgement, any decisions, steps already taken and time limits that have run. This analysis makes it possible to understand the legal framework of your situation.

Identify the available steps and the time limits to respect.

In parentage matters, each action is subject to precise conditions: who may bring it, within what time limit, before which authority, under which law and with what evidence.

Act rigorously.

Where the Family Court has to be involved, I prepare the file, gather the relevant documents and argue your application with precision. Genetic testing can be sought where the situation calls for it.

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Clarify a parent-child relationship, without waiting.

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