Establishing Paternity

Establishing Paternity is an important step for the father of the child if the mother and father are not married. The benefits of establishing paternity are numerous, but it could help with insurance and legal matters. A father can grant paternity by signing a written admission acknowledging a paternity test. Each state has a program where birthing hospitals give unmarried parents of an infant the opportunity to recognize the father's paternity for the child. States are also obligated to help parents establish paternity up until the child's eighteenth birthday. This is done through vital records offices or other programs executed by the State.

Some benefits for the child and/or children by establishing paternity include:

• Inheritance rights
• Access to father’s insurance benefits
• Identity and connection with father’s family
• Establishment of a father/child relationship
• Medical history of conditions in father’s family

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA), states that if any man who has signed the acknowledgement denies that he is the father within 60 days of signing then the paternity is not accepted. Paternity is also imperative when seeking child support in order to hold up the claim. A support order cannot be established against the father if the child was born to parents who were unmarried at the time, unless the paternity has been recognized.

If the potential father is not taking responsibility as for the child, the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) agency can order genetic testing. To avoid the frustration of tracking the father down, the sooner this is established the better. Proceeding child birth is the prime time to establish this paternity.

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