Fla. Stat. § 742.18 sets forth the circumstances under which paternity may be disestablished. This statute is a gender-specific statute as it provides that the alleged father is the only person who can petition the court to disestablish paternity.
A Petition to Disestablish Paternity must be filed with the Court in a circuit that has jurisdiction to award child support, and it must include scientific testing results (i.e., DNA) which indicate that the Petitioner (i.e., the alleged father) is not the father of the child for whom support is required.
A Petition to Disestablish Paternity must also be accompanied by an Affidavit, which states that the alleged father is current on all child support payments and/or in substantial compliance with same. In other words, in order for the Court to find that the alleged father is not the legal father of the child, the alleged father must be current on all child support payments despite the fact that the alleged father would not be responsible for such child support payments should the alleged father’s paternity be disestablished.