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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky creates a Class B misdemeanor crime for parentage fraud
Last action · January 7, 2026: introduced in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)Sponsor: Don Douglas
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky establishes parentage fraud as a for individuals who knowingly establish a non-biological person as a child's parent to deprive them of property or block the actual biological parent's rights.
Creates criminal liability carrying jail time and fines for individuals who knowingly misrepresent parentage for financial or parental deprivation, with specific exemptions for adoption, marital status, or conception via rape or incest.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Persons accused of parentage fraud
Individuals face criminal prosecution for a Class B misdemeanor if they knowingly misrepresent parentage under the specified conditions.
Biological parents facing parental rights deprivation
True biological parents gain legal protections against having their parental rights blocked through fraudulent parentage establishment.
Key Facts
- A person is guilty of parentage fraud when seeking to legally establish a non-biological parent for a child in their custody with the intent to deprive property or prevent the true biological parent from exercising parental rights, while knowing or reasonably knowing the person is not the biological parent.
- Parentage fraud is classified as a Class B misdemeanor.
- The statute does not apply if the child was conceived as a result of rape or incest, if the child has been or is being adopted, or if the victim of the offense was the defendant's spouse at the time of the offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What constitutes parentage fraud under this measure?
What are the exceptions to the parentage fraud law?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the Senate.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 7, 2026SenateIntroducedintroduced in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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