Erin W. v. Charissa W. (Nebraska 2017)

A court did not abuse its discretion in denying a motion for genetic testing in a divorce proceeding where the child was born during the marriage and the father had held out and supported the child as his own. Prior to their marriage, the mother told the father he might not be the child’s biological father. In spite of this, his name was on the child’s birth certificate, and the mother did nothing to challenge his paternity. Several years later, as part of the divorce proceeding, the mother filed a motion for genetic testing. The court denied the motion, finding that the father had acknowledged paternity, held the child out as his own, and objected to the motion. The appellate court upheld the order, finding that no statute or discovery rule supported the motion and that the mother failed to rebut the presumption with any convincing evidence. Her testimony did not qualify as competent evidence.