Erin W. v. Charissa W., 297 Neb. 143

Charissa and Erin W. married in June 2013 while Charissa was pregnant; the child was born during the marriage and Erin was listed on the birth certificate and acted as the child's father.
Charissa later told Erin before marriage she had also had intercourse with another man (G.T.) around conception and ultimately questioned Erin's paternity as the child aged.
Parties separated in 2014; Erin filed for dissolution in 2015. Charissa moved for court-ordered genetic testing to determine paternity; Erin opposed testing.
The district court denied Charissa’s motions for genetic testing, relying on the statutory presumption that a child born during marriage is the husband’s, and later found Erin to be the child’s father.
The court awarded joint legal and physical custody (continuing the existing alternating 5-day schedule) and ordered child support; Charissa appealed solely contesting denial of testing, failure to find paternity rebutted, and the joint custody award.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether court abused discretion by denying Charissa's motions to compel genetic testing	Charissa sought testing to rebut presumption of legitimacy and claimed entitlement to testing (invoking statutes on appeal)	Erin opposed testing; child was born during marriage and Erin had been held out as father	Denial not an abuse of discretion—motions not grounded in applicable statute pre-decree and testing would illegitimize a marital child over father's objection
Whether Charissa rebutted the statutory presumption of legitimacy	Charissa relied on her testimony about intercourse with G.T. and photos showing resemblance to G.T.'s son	Erin pointed to his continuous acknowledgment and parenting, and the birth occurred during marriage	Presumption not rebutted—evidence was not clear, satisfactory, and convincing; spousal testimony alone is incompetent to overcome presumption
Whether joint legal and physical custody was an abuse of discretion	Charissa argued custody award inappropriate given alleged nonpaternity and denial of testing	Erin argued joint custody followed parties' prior agreement and served the child's best interests	No abuse of discretion—court continued previously effective joint custody arrangement and found it in child's best interests

Donald v. Donald, 296 Neb. 123 (holding review standards in dissolution matters and discussing presumption principles)
Alisha C. v. Jeremy C., 283 Neb. 340 (presumption of legitimacy may be rebutted only by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence; spousal testimony insufficient)
Helter v. Williamson, 239 Neb. 741 (spousal testimony not competent to overcome presumption of legitimacy)
Younkin v. Younkin, 221 Neb. 134 (same rule on incompetency of spousal declarations to rebut legitimacy presumption)
Perkins v. Perkins, 198 Neb. 401 (historic recognition of presumption protecting children from stigma of illegitimacy)
Stacy M. v. Jason M., 290 Neb. 141 (application of paternity/disestablishment statutes post-decree)
Zahl v. Zahl, 273 Neb. 1043 (standards for awarding joint physical custody)