§ 26.26.011. Definitions
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Acknowledged father" means a man who has established a father-child relationship under RCW 26.26.300 through 26.26.375.
(2) "Adjudicated father" means a man who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the father of a child.
(3) "Alleged father" means a man who alleges himself to be, or is alleged to be, the genetic father or a possible genetic father of a child, but whose paternity has not been determined. The term does not include:
(a) A presumed father;
(b) A man whose parental rights have been terminated or declared not to exist; or
(c) A male donor.
(4) "Assisted reproduction" means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse. The term includes:
(a) Intrauterine insemination;
(b) Donation of eggs;
(c) Donation of embryos;
(d) In vitro fertilization and transfer of embryos; and
(e) Intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
(5) "Child" means an individual of any age whose parentage may be determined under this chapter.
(6) "Commence" means to file the petition seeking an adjudication of parentage in a superior court of this state or to serve a summons and the petition.
(7) "Determination of parentage" means the establishment of the parent-child relationship by the signing of a valid acknowledgment of paternity under RCW 26.26.300 through 26.26.375 or adjudication by the court.
(8) "Donor" means an individual who produces eggs or sperm used for assisted reproduction, whether or not for consideration. The term does not include:
(a) A husband who provides sperm, or a wife who provides eggs, to be used for assisted reproduction by the wife; or
(b) A woman who gives birth to a child by means of assisted reproduction, except as otherwise provided in RCW 26.26.210 through 26.26.260 or 26.26.735.
(9) "Ethnic or racial group" means, for purposes of genetic testing, a recognized group that an individual identifies as all or part of his or her ancestry or that is so identified by other information.
(10) "Genetic testing" means an analysis of genetic markers only to exclude or identify a man as the father or a woman as the mother of a child. The term includes an analysis of one or a combination of the following:
(a) Deoxyribonucleic acid; and
(b) Blood-group antigens, red-cell antigens, human-leukocyte antigens, serum enzymes, serum proteins, or red-cell enzymes.
(11) "Man" means a male individual of any age.
(12) "Parent" means an individual who has established a parent-child relationship under RCW 26.26.101.
(13) "Parent-child relationship" means the legal relationship between a child and a parent of the child. The term includes the mother-child relationship and the father-child relationship.
(14) "Paternity index" means the likelihood of paternity calculated by computing the ratio between:
(a) The likelihood that the tested man is the father, based on the genetic markers of the tested man, mother, and child, conditioned on the hypothesis that the tested man is the father of the child; and
(b) The likelihood that the tested man is not the father, based on the genetic markers of the tested man, mother, and child, conditioned on the hypothesis that the tested man is not the father of the child and that the father is from the same ethnic or racial group as the tested man.
(15) "Presumed father" means a man who, under RCW 26.26.116, is recognized to be the father of a child until that status is rebutted or confirmed in a judicial proceeding.
(16) "Probability of paternity" means the measure, for the ethnic or racial group to which the alleged father belongs, of the probability that the individual in question is the father of the child, compared with a random, unrelated man of the same ethnic or racial group, expressed as a percentage incorporating the paternity index and a prior probability.
(17) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(18) "Signatory" means an individual who authenticates a record and is bound by its terms.
(19) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or an Indian tribe or band, or Alaskan native village, that is recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by state law.
(20) "Support enforcement agency" means a public official or agency authorized to seek:
(a) Enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support;
(b) Establishment or modification of child support;
(c) Determination of parentage; or
(d) Location of child support obligors and their income and assets.
[2002 c 302 § 102.]
Sections: 26.26.011 26.26.021 26.26.031 26.26.041 26.26.051 26.26.065 26.26.101 26.26.106 26.26.111 26.26.116 26.26.130 26.26.132 26.26.134 26.26.138 26.26.140 NextLast modified: April 7, 2009