R.N. v. J.M.

The majority of the court has decided that R.N. has standing under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-10-104 (Repl. 1998) to bring a paternity action challenging the legitimacy of a child, A.M., who is presumed to be legitimate because she was both conceived and born during the continuing marriage of her parents, J.M. and B.M. Both J.M. and B.M., the married couple to whom A.M. was born, strongly object to R.N.’s efforts to have the child declared illegitimate.

The public policy of our state regarding the presumption of legitimacy of a child born during marriage was declared in Thomas v. Pacheco, 293 Ark.…