Paternity Suit
(nuhnk proh tuhnk) Latin for “now for then,” this refers to changing back to an earlier date of an order, judgment or filing of a document. such a retroactive re-dating requires a court order which can be obtained by a showing that the earlier date would have been legal, and there was error, accidental omission or neglect which has caused a problem or inconvenience which can be cured. often the judge will grant the nunc pro tunc order ex parte (with only the applicant appearing and without notice). examples: a court clerk fails to file an answer when he/she received it, and a nunc pro tunc date of filing is needed to meet the legal deadline (statute of limitations); a final divorce judgment is misdirected and, therefore, not signed and dated until the day after the re-marriage of one of the parties-the nunc pro tunc order will prevent the appearance or actuality of a bigamous marriage.
