Judical Code

Section 1. Children born during a marriage.

a. The husband of a child's mother is presumed to be the father of any child born during the marriage.

b. A biological father who is not the husband of the child's mother may challenge the presumption of paternity of the husband only with the written consent of the mother.

Section 2. Children born outside of a marriage.

a. The paternity of a child born outside of a marriage may be established by blood testing, as ordered by a Tribal Court upon a motion by the mother of the child; or

b. The paternity of a child born outside of a marriage may be established by acknowledgement of paternity by a man not excluded by blood testing, with the permission of the child's mother. The permission and the acknowledgement must be filed with the Clerk of Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community in order to be valid.

c. The mother of a child born out of wedlock has legal custody of the child unless the Tribal Court grants legal custody to another person or transfers legal custody to an agency.

Section 3. Application of the laws of intestate succession to children born outside of a marriage.

a. A child whose paternity has been established.

A child born outside of a marriage whose paternity has been established may inherit by intestate succession from his or her father.

A child born outside of a marriage whose paternity has not been established may inherit from his or her father by intestate succession only if she or he can establish by clear and convincing evidence before a Tribal Court of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community that the alleged father acknowledged her or him as his child. Proof of acknowledgement shall include, but is not limited to, testimony by other family members that the child was accepted as the son or daughter of the man from whom he or she wishes to inherit.

Section 4. Determinations of paternity by the Tribal Courts of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota.

In actions brought for determination of the paternity of a child, the judgment of the Tribal Court establishing the identity of the father of the child shall be conclusive in all subsequent proceedings in the Department of the Interior relating to the determination of heirs and rights of inheritance.

Until amendment of this code, the Tribal Court may apply the procedure set forth in Minnesota Statutes §§ 257.57 - 257.73 to determine father and child relationship. Use of the procedure contained in Minnesota statutes shall not be deemed an adoption of Minnesota law by the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community and shall be subject to modification by the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Dakota Community.