Children and Family Relationships Act 2015

Amendment of section 46 of Act of 1987

88. Section 46 of the Act of 1987 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):

“(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, where a married woman, being a woman who is living apart from her husband, gives birth to a child more than ten months after the date of her separation from her husband, then her husband shall be presumed not to be the father of the child unless the contrary is proved on the balance of probabilities.”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, the date of the separation of a married woman from her husband shall be deemed to be—

(a) the date on which a decree of divorce a mensa et thoro was granted in relation to them,

(b) the date on which a decree of judicial separation was granted in relation to them,

(c) the date on which a deed of separation was executed in relation to them,

(d) the date on which a separation agreement was entered into by them, or

(e) such other date as may be established by the woman.”,

(c) in subsection (3), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) the birth of a child is registered in a register maintained under the Civil Registration Act 2004 , and”,

and

(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):

“(5) In this section, ‘decree of judicial separation’ means a decree under section 3 of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989 .”.