Noun: paternity suit
- (law) a lawsuit filed to determine the father of a child born out of wedlock (and to provide for the support of the child once paternity is determined)
"The celebrity faced a paternity suit from a woman claiming he was the father of her child";
- bastardy proceeding
Derived forms: paternity suits
Type of: case, causa [archaic], cause, lawsuit, suit
Encyclopedia: Paternity suit