Parentage and maintenance claim: what limitation period?

In its response published on August 27, 2020, the Department of Justice noted that the 2008 statute of limitations reform deliberately did not change this. It appeared necessary for the legislature to prevent disproportionate effects of late legal action seeking paternity. A debtor, who might otherwise be in good faith unaware of his paternity, might indeed be forced to pay excessive sums retroactively. The accumulation of sums due over a five-year period is already likely to lead to very high monetary penalties. It does not therefore appear appropriate to call into question the application of the five-year limitation period on contributions to the maintenance and upbringing of children. Thus, mothers, in order to receive full financial support from the father of their child, must take paternity action on behalf of the latter, from the earliest years, in the child's own interest.