Here’s why paternity cases are no longer confidential in California

In California, if you're bringing a Parentage Case to court, commonly referred to as a paternity case, you should be prepared for it to be a matter of public record.

As of January, courtroom arguments in the Golden State over whether or not someone is the father or other parent of a child are no longer automatically confidential. Previously closed hearings are now presumptively open.

In the past, these cases were kept confidential due to fears of social stigma. But that is less of a concern now that unmarried parents, who typically bring these cases, account for 38.6% of births in California, according to the data compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Paternity laws typically come into play when a parent is attempting to secure child custody, child support, apply for government benefits, access medical records or add a child to the father's health insurance plan.

Under state law, if parents are married at the time of birth, the law assumes the husband is the father. For unmarried couples, the parents have to formally establish parentage, either through a voluntary declaration or a court order.

In court, judges can look at everything from DNA testing to whether a man has lived with the mother and demonstrated a commitment to helping raise the child.

It is these hearings which are now presumptively public.

And this also affects non-married, same-sex couples such as gay women, so it has a wide application to fathers, but also to same-sex couples where they didn't use assistive reproduction.

Family Code section 7643(c) states that cases filed after Jan. 1, 2023, are not subject to the right of a closed hearing. An exception under 7643.5 is still allowed for cases of assisted reproduction and surrogacy.

The changes to law have significant implications for anyone involved in a paternity dispute in California.

First, any information relating to a paternity case may now be disclosed to third parties, subject to certain restrictions. That's a significant change from the previous law, which had very limited exceptions for disclosure.

The new law was spearheaded by Justin O'Connell, Esq., of Monterey, who for many years has been the legislative chair for the California Lawyer's Association Family Law Executive Committee.

One of the primary motivations was to increase transparency in the legal system and provide greater access to information for all parties involved in a paternity dispute This is particularly important in cases where there may be disputes over child custody or support, as well as cases where one party is seeking to establish or disprove paternity. By removing the confidentiality requirement, the new law seeks to promote greater fairness and access in the resolution of paternity disputes.

We will likely see the court slowly change access requirements to new parentage cases, such as being able to view them on the court website, as well as having the parties names open to access to others and on the court's dockets.

Parties can still petition the court for a confidential case or closed hearing, but this will be much harder, as judges will now weigh the privacy of the parties against the public's access to information.

Cases brought before Jan. 1, meantime, can remain confidential.