Vem är pappan? - Faderskapspresumtionen och dess betydelse i dagens samhälle

There has been a presumption of paternity for a long time, which means that, when a child is born within the marriage, the husband will automatically be regarded as the father. In case the couple is not legally married at the time of the birth, the social service is obliged to investigate and determine who is the father of the child. Children who were born outside of the marriage have historically not had the same rights as children who were born within the marriage. Especially in the area of inheritance law there have been major differences. The determination of the paternity has historically been important for several reasons. For example what kind of inheritance the child is entitled to, as well as to determine who should be responsible to pay child support. Eventually, the regulations in the field of inheritance changed and children who were born outside the marriage were equated with children born within the marriage. Even though children born outside the marriage today have the same rights as children born within the marriage, there is a huge difference in the process to determine who is the legal father. At present moment it is only the husband who automatically will be determined as a father to a child born within the marriage. On many occasions, suggestions have been made that a similar presumption of paternity should apply to couples that are not married but who are constantly living together. One argument against an introduction for this type of presumption has been that it would run contrary to the best interests of the child. This because of the lack of investigation about the paternity and that it would not ensure that the right father was determined. In the year of 2018 an investigation was made to see if there were prerequisites to introduce a presumption of paternity for couples who were not married but lived together. The investigation did not present any suggestion about a presumption of this kind, but some proposal of simplification regarding the determination of paternity were made. For instance, the investigation suggests a possibility to confirm the paternity electronically within 14 days from the child’s birth. The need to investigate and determine the paternity for every couple that lives together may seem outdated and unnecessary. The marriage does not have the same meaning today compared to when the rules about presumption of paternity where introduced. Treating married and unmarried couples differently when determining the paternity is unreasonable when the couple is living together. It does not fulfill the purpose, which is to ensure the best interests of the child. There is no higher probability that the married man is in fact the father of a child born within the marriage then there is for an unmarried man being father to a child born in a non legal married relationship. To treat the fathers differently only because of this fact may be considered to be outdated and it should be more effective to establish a presumption of paternity for couples who are living together unmarried.