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| In short, the UPC provides that an individual is presumed not to | | be included in a class gift from someone other than the child's | | parent unless that individual lived as a member of the parent's | | family during childhood. This presumed intent of the donor is | | rebuttable. Although this provision probably has a disproportionate | | effect on nonmarital children, the disparity is not based on the | | circumstances of birth, but rather on post-birth living conditions. |
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| | | §1843.__Consequences of establishment of parentage |
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| | | Unless parental rights are terminated, a parent-child | | relationship established under this chapter applies for all | | purposes, except as otherwise specifically provided by other law | | of this State. |
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| | | (This is section 203 of the UPA.) |
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| | | Source: USCACA (1988) § 10. |
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| | | This section may seem to state the obvious, but both the | | statement and the qualifier are necessary because without this | | explanation a literal reading of §§ 201-203 could lead to | | erroneous statutory constructions. The basic purpose of the | | section is to make clear that a mother, as defined in § 201(a), | | is not a parent once her parental rights have been terminated. | | Similarly, a man whose paternity has been established by | | acknowledgment or by court adjudication may subsequently have his | | parental rights terminated. |
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| | | The qualifier, "as otherwise provided by other law of this | | State," is necessary because other statutes may restrict rights | | of a parent. For example, UPC (1993) § 2-114(c) precludes a | | parent of a child (and the parent's family) from inheriting from | | the child by intestate succession "unless that natural parent has | | openly treated the child as his [or hers] and has not refused to | | support the child." Similarly, as discussed in the preceding | | Comment, UPC (1993) § 2-705(b) affects the right of a child to | | take under a class gift from a person who is not a parent of the | | child. |
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| | | §1844.__Presumption of parentage |
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| | | 1.__Presumption established.__A person is presumed to be the | | parent of a child if: |
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