Paternity is the relationship between a father and his child. Establishing paternity is the process of making this a legal relationship, recognized by the government as a father and child relationship.
Establishing paternity gives a child born outside of a legal marriage the same legal rights as a child born to married parents. Legal children can receive benefits through their fathers, such as his Social Security benefits, veteran’s benefits, life insurance, health insurance, and inheritance rights. Children also benefit by knowing their family’s biological, cultural, and medical history.
Child support offices may help either parent with establishing paternity for a child who does not have a legal father. Paternity must be established before the court can give the obligation to pay child support. Even if the father is incapable or reluctant to pay support, establishing paternity makes it possible to accumulate support from him at a later date through tax intercept, lottery intercept, and wage withholding. When a married couple has a child, the law automatically recognizes the husband as the child’s legal father; therefore, paternity does not even need to be determined. When an unmarried woman has a child, the paternity must be legally proved and recognized before claims for child support or other benefits can be made, or before the father can request any parental rights. This is called “the establishing of paternity.”
Paternity can be established in one of two ways. First, if a child is born to an unmarried mother, she and the alleged father can sign an Affidavit of Parentage form to legally establish the father’s legal rights. This is sometimes known as “paternity acknowledgement.” The second possible way to establish paternity is when the mother and alleged father can ask the court to determine the legal father of the child. The prosecuting attorney’s office in each county has responsibility for filing and prosecuting actions to the establish paternity. If you have been divorced or widowed for less than 10 months, your husband at the time of conception is considered by law to be the father.
You may complete a paternity affidavit provided by the State Department of Health within 72 hours (3 days) of when your child is born. This must be signed by both the mother and the father. The paternity affidavit form, along with a verbal explanation of the legal effects of the document, will be provided to the mother and father by hospital staff at the same time that the birth certificate is completed.
Paternity can be established by completing the required paternity affidavit form at the local health department. This process is available until your child reaches 20 years of age. A properly executed paternity affidavit establishes legal paternity and parental rights and responsibilities.
Oftentimes a parent may want to prove that the man is the biological father of the child before he is named the actual legal father. In such a case, either party may request genetic testing. This testing will either show that the man is not the biological father or that the man has greater than a 99% likelihood of being the father of the child. Once paternity is established, an order for child support can be established.
For establishing paternity for a child contact an FIA support specialist toll-free at 1-866-540-0008. FIA support specialists can help you with voluntary paternity acknowledgement, or if necessary, they can refer you to the prosecuting attorney for court-ordered paternity establishment.
By Jessica Maughan