FILIATION.

foster father.See foster parent under PARENT.

genetic father.See biological father.

godfather. See GODPARENT.

intentional father.See intentional parent under PARENT.

legal father.The man recognized by law as the male parent of a child. • A man is the legal

father of a child if he was married to the child’s natural mother when the child was born, if he has

recognized or acknowledged the child, or if he has been declared the child’s natural father in a

paternity action. If a man consents to the artificial insemination of his wife, he is the legal father of

the child that is born as a result of the artificial insemination even though he may not be the

genetic father of the child. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock 12, 68; Parent and Child 1. C.J.S.

Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 25–26, 126–127; Parent and Child §§ 1–12, 201.]

natural father.See biological father.

presumed father.The man presumed to be the father of a child for any of several reasons: (1)

because he was married to the child’s natural mother when the child was conceived or born (even

though the marriage may have been invalid), (2) because the man married the mother after the

child’s birth and agreed either to have his name on the birth certificate or to support the child, or (3)

because the man welcomed the child into his home and held out the child as his own. • This term

represents a complicated category, and state laws vary in their requirements. See PRESUMPTION

OF PATERNITY. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock 43. C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock § 100.]

psychological father.See psychological parent under PARENT.

putative father (pyoo-t<<schwa>>-tiv). The alleged biological father of a child born out of

wedlock. [Cases: Children Out-of-Wedlock 35. C.J.S. Children Out-of-Wedlock §§ 46, 49, 91.]

stepfather. The husband of one’s mother by a later marriage. — Formerly also termed vitricus.

[Cases: Parent and Child 15. C.J.S. Parent and Child §§ 345–350, 357–358.][Blacks Law 8th]