The federal government is pushing for more aggressive measures against false paternity claims.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) are pushing for a more rigorous review process with their draft law. If passed, the approval of the foreigners' authorities would be necessary to recognize a child's paternity, even in cases of suspected misuse.
The Justice and Interior Ministries claim they have dealt with 1,769 potential misuse cases from January 2018 to December 2021. approximately 290 of these were labeled as misuse of paternity recognition. Additionally, they investigated 1,800 cases abroad. The agencies believe there are many undetected instances of sham paternity.
Currently, the paternity recognition procedure can be halted if there are noticeable signs of misuse. However, the governments argue that these cases are frequently not recognized early enough because it's up to the authorities responsible for confirming paternity, such as youth welfare offices or notaries, to spot these instances.
These authorities face challenges obtaining relevant information about potential misuse, according to the ministries. As a result, misuse cases are often only discovered late. Afterward, the correction of a recognized paternity is not an option.
The revised law intends for the registry office to determine if a potential misuse case falls under the purview of the foreigners' authorities. If the father and mother have different residency statuses, such as a German citizenship and a tourist visa, the case would automatically be referred to the foreigners' authorities.
