TN 33 (11-10)

GN 00306.600 Oklahoma Intestacy Laws

A. Child or father acquires status of child or parent if:

  1. (1) 

    for paternity decided before 11/1/06:

    1. (a) 

      the parents intermarry subsequent to the child's birth (father is living); or

    2. (b) 

      if the paternity determination is being made while the alleged father is alive, the father publicly acknowledges the child as his own, receives the child as such into his family (with wife's consent, if he is married) and otherwise treats the child as his legitimate child; or

    3. (c) 

      effective 10/01/77, if the paternity determination is being made after the alleged father's death, clear and convincing evidence establishes that the father, during his lifetime, publicly acknowledged such child as his own, received the child into his family (with his wife's consent, if he was married) and otherwise treated the child as his legitimate child; or

    4. (d) 

      effective 10/01/77, when considering the issue of paternity after the alleged father's death where the alleged father and mother had intermarried subsequent to the child's birth, clear and convincing evidence establishes that the father, after such marriage, either acknowledged the child as his own or adopted the child into his family (by the acts set forth in item c. above); or

    5. (e) 

      the father acknowledges the child in a writing signed in the presence of a competent witness; if the paternity determination is being made after the father's death, clear and convincing evidence must establish that the father made this acknowledgment; or

    6. (f) 

      while the alleged father is alive:

      1. (1) 

        paternity is determined to exist by a preponderance of the evidence;* or

      2. (2) 

        effective 10/01/77, the father is judicially determined to be the father of the child in a paternity proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction;* or

      3. (3) 

        effective 09/01/94, the father is declared to have been such in an order from an Oklahoma District or Administrative court.*

      *NOTE: For claims filed on or after 11/27/98, or pending on that date, we do not require a state court order determining paternity; SSA may make the paternity determination before the father's death using a preponderance of the evidence standard of proof, or after his death using a clear and convincing evidence standard of proof.

    7. (g) 

      effective 09/01/94, both parents acknowledged the paternity in a notarized written statement prepared pursuant to section 1-311.3 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma statues, which requires that the statement must contain:

      1. (1) 

        a statement by the mother consenting to the assertion of paternity and stating the identity of the father;

      2. (2) 

        a statement by the father that he is the natural father of the child; and

      3. (3) 

        the Social Security numbers of both parents.

  2. (2) 

    for paternity determinations pending on and after 11/1/06:

    1. (a) 

      a parentage test excludes at least 99% of the male population from the possibility of being the father and indicates a combined paternity index of at least 100 to 1. In addition, the test report must be authenticated as follows:

      1. (1) 

        Testing must take place in a laboratory accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, or another accrediting body designated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services;

      2. (2) 

        A laboratory designee must sign the test report under penalty of perjury; and

      3. (3) 

        Testimony or documentations establishes reliable chain of custody of the samples. Documentation from the testing laboratory is sufficient to establish a reliable chain of custody without further testimony if the documentation includes:

        1. a. 

          The name and photograph of each individual whose specimens have been taken,

        2. b. 

          The name of each individual who collected the specimens,

        3. c. 

          The places in which the specimens were collected and the date of each collection,

        4. d. 

          The name of each individual who received the specimens in the testing laboratory, and

        5. e. 

          The dates the specimens were received in the laboratory.

      NOTE: Effective 11/1/06, the results of genetic testing can only be rebutted by other genetic tests. Parentage tests that show the possibility of paternity (i.e., do not exclude the alleged father) but do not exclude 99% of the male population are still considered relevant evidence of paternity; or

    2. (b) 

      the father executed an acknowledgement of paternity that is:

      1. (1) 

        in a record;

      2. (2) 

        signed or otherwise authenticated, under penalty of perjury, by the mother and the man seeking to establish paternity;

      3. (3) 

        states that the child whose paternity is being acknowledged does not have a presumed father or has a presumed father whose full name is stated, and does not have another acknowledged or adjudicated father;

      4. (4) 

        states whether there has been genetic testing and, if so, that the acknowledging man’s claim of paternity is consistent with the results of the testing; and

      5. (5) 

        states that the signatories understand that the acknowledgement is the equivalent of a judicial adjudication of the paternity of the child and may be challenged only within two years and only under limited circumstances.

      An acknowledgement is void if it states that another man is the acknowledged or adjudicated father or that another man is the presumed father, unless a denial of paternity by the presumed father has been filed with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Division of Vital Records; or

    3. (c) 

      the man adopts the child.

B. A man is presumed to be a child’s biological father if:

  1. (1) 

    for paternity decided before 11/1/06:

    1. (a) 

      the child is born within 10 months after the termination of a marriage between the mother and the alleged father; or

    2. (b) 

      effective 09/01/94, the child is born within ten months of the termination of cohabitation of the mother and the alleged father; or

    3. (c) 

      effective 09/01/94, while the child is under 18, the alleged father receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural child for a period of at least two years; or

    4. (d) 

      effective 09/01/94, the DHS made or accepted a determination that the alleged father was the father of the child at the time of the child's entry into the U.S. and the alleged father had the opportunity at the time of the child's entry into the U.S. to admit or deny the paternal relationship; or

    5. (e) 

      effective 09/01/94, scientifically reliable genetic tests, including but not limited to blood tests, establishes a 98% or greater probability of paternity. This creates a conclusive presumption of paternity that may not be rebutted. Reliable genetic testing that establishes a probability of paternity at or above 95% but below 98% creates a rebuttable presumption of paternity.

  2. (2) 

    for paternity determinations pending on and after 11/1/06:

    1. (a) 

      he and the child's biological mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage or not more than 300 days after the date the marriage terminated by death, annulment, having been declared void, divorce, or after decree of separation; or

    2. (b) 

      before the child's birth, he and the child's biological mother attempted to marry each other in apparent compliance with the law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared void, and the child is born during the attempted marriage or not more than 300 days after the date the attempted marriage terminated by death, annulment, having been declared void, decree of separation, or divorce; or

    3. (c) 

      he married the mother of the child after the birth of the child in apparent compliance with the law, regardless of whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and he voluntarily asserted his paternity of the child, and:

      1. (1) 

        the assertion is in a record filed with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, division of Vital Records, or the Oklahoma Department of Human Services;

      2. (2) 

        he agreed to be and is named as the child’s father on the child’s birth certificate; or

      3. (3) 

        he promised in a record to support the child as his own; or

    4. (d) 

      during the first two years of the child’s life, he continuously resided in the household in which the child resided and he represented to others that the child was his own.

NOTE: Effective 11/1/06, a presumption of paternity may be rebutted only by court adjudication or the filing of a valid denial of paternity by a presumed father in conjunction with the filing by another person of a valid acknowledgement of paternity.


To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0200306600
GN 00306.600 - Oklahoma Intestacy Laws - 11/16/2010
Batch run: 11/16/2010
Rev:11/16/2010