The doctrine of paternity by estoppel is most often applied in child support cases to either preclude a man who has held the child out as his own from avoiding support of the child after his relationship with the child’s mother has ended or to preclude a mother “who held one man out as her child’s father from seeking support from another man” at a later time. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has stated: “Those who mislead a child as to the identity of his or her natural father, cannot then turn around and disprove their own fiction to the detriment of the child.”
The doctrine of paternity by estoppel can also be raised in an effort to preclude a biological father from asserting his parental rights over a child. However, it is uncommon to see the doctrine of paternity by estoppel applied in child custody cases.
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