Japan to Revise ‘Outdated’ Legal Paternity Law

Japan to Revise ‘Outdated’ Legal Paternity Law
A file image of a woman with a pushchair walking with children at a park in Tokyo. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP via Getty Images
Aldgra Fredly
Updated:

Japan’s government is set to amend a century-old Civil Code provision that presumes an ex-husband is the legal father of a woman’s child within 300 days of their divorce, even when the woman has remarried, local media reported on Thursday.

The proposed change to the Civil Code provision will give the new spouse legal paternity, regardless of how long they have been married.