If you are having a baby, you may be wondering what you can do to protect your baby’s rights. You want your child to have all the support he or she needs from the father. Establishing parentage can be an important step for you to take if you are not married to the baby’s father. This article will walk you through some of the basics of establishing paternity and help explain why parentage is important.
- What is parentage? What is paternity?
When a child is born to parents who are married (or to parents in a domestic partnership after 2005), then the law presumes that the couple are the child’s parents. If the parents are not married, then the father only has legal rights and responsibilities if parentage is established. However, in some cases parentage will be presumed, such as “parentage by estoppel,” where the parent welcomed the child into his home and treated it as his own.
- Why is establishing parentage important?
If you want custody, visitation or child support orders from the court, parentage will have to be established. This can also be important in a same-sex parenting situations if the parents were not married when the mother became pregnant or when the child was born. There are other advantages: having health and life insurance coverage from either parent, the right to inherit from either parent, the right to receive social security and veteran’s benefits, just to name a few.
- What if the father does not admit that he is the parent?
A court may order the alleged father, mother and child to be genetic tested in order to establish parentage.
- What are the consequences and rights of the parent after parentage is established?
A parent has generally the right to get custody or visitation rights related to the child, although this right may be impacted in some cases by criminal history. A parent also has a legal obligation to financially support the child, but the amount of financial support will vary depending on various factors including income, custody arrangements, etc.
- What are the ways to establish parentage when the child’s parents aren’t married or in a domestic partnership?
- Signing and filing a voluntary Declaration of Paternity – this is a form that both parents voluntarily sign, which established them as the legal parents of the child. The advantage of the voluntary Declaration is that neither parent has to go to court. After the form is signed, it needs to be filed with the California Department of Child Support Services.
- You local child support agency can bring an action to establish parentage of a child. This often happens as a matter of course when welfare is requested for the child.
- You can bring your own court case to establish parentage, which will involve several court forms and possibly a trial. You may want to utilize the help of an attorney or an agency to navigate this process.
