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paternity suit

British  

noun

  1. law the US (and in Britain a nontechnical) term for affiliation proceedings

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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A blood test ordered in a 2016 paternity suit confirmed one of the children, an 11-year-old girl, was Elkins’s child, although she didn’t use his last name, court records show.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 20, 2026

He left behind a trail of disputes over his wealth in over half a dozen countries, including a divorce case in Monaco and a Russian paternity suit, the documents detail.

From Seattle Times Sep. 14, 2023

Mr. Walker and his former girlfriend started their relationship around November 2008, according to her paternity suit.

From New York Times Oct. 7, 2022

In December 2021, news broke that model Maralee Nichols filed a paternity suit against Thompson alleging that Thompson conceived a child with her.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 29, 2022

One woman even filed a paternity suit falsely claiming that Walter was the father of her child, a child that was born less than eight months after Walter's release.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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