How to get father, who is not my husband-on the birth certificate

[zoofiend]

This question is in regards to the laws in the state of California.

I am married, but am currently pregnant with a child not fathered by my husband. There is NO contention about paternity. Everyone is in 100% agreement who the father is, and all parties involved want him to be recognized as the father.

I thought this would be as simple as signing a voluntary declaration of paternity, as you would do for unmarried parents. However apparently, because I am married, I cannot use this form. (Which makes no sense to me since it doesn't matter what the marital status of the father is.) I realize that, barring this, the husband is usually assumed to be the father. My husband does NOT want to be listed as the father (because he isn't).

As I said, there is absolutely NO doubt who the father is. He WANTS to be the father. There are no issues or disagreements here. We simply want the true parents to be listed on the birth certificate.

How do I accomplish this?

Thank you.

As a post script, and by way of explanation, my husband and I (at his request) had physically (not legally) seperated. In the interim he has decided he wants to try and work things out, which is why we are not interested in divorcing at this time.

 

[Duranie]

He is going to have to officially dispute paternity. Your husband is the legal father if this is not done. You might want to talk to an attorney. it appears you have 2 years after the birth to make sure this gets done right, after 2 years your husband is the legal Dad.

 

[zoofiend]

Thank you for your fast response. By 'He' do you mean the father or my husband? (Or both?)
If either one contests paternity, and the rest of us agree who the parents are, do we actually have to go through paternity testing?
(It's not that I object, of course, it would just be nice to be able to do this at birth, rather than having to wait for the baby to be born and then all the legal red tape.)

Wow. In reading through the numerous other posts where paternity always seems to be fraudulent, unknown, or contested, who knew it would be so difficult simply to put the known facts down on paper?
In my case, it seems, it's more difficult to make them let me NOT commit fraud!

 

[jharris352]

Legitimacy

The reason this is so difficult is that society values legitimacy. When a child is born to a married woman, the husband is automatically considered the legal father. There are two designations: legal father, and biological father. Your husband is the LEGAL father because he is married to you and you had a child. Biology has not been LEGALLY determined.

Daraine says you have 2 years to make this determination that seems like a long time to me. In Georgia its 90 days to dispute paternity or it becomes nearly impossible to do. Your husband is going to need an attorney but because there is no contest it shouldn't be that expensive. Your baby's daddy should also get an attorney, but again it should be pretty cheap. Go to a testing place and have a LEGAL DNA test done. Tell them this is for a Legitimation/Paternity suit and they will do the right one. The one you want is more expensive than the quick and dirty one because they have to take extra precautions.

Your husband will file an action against you disputing the paternity of the child. You can and seemingly will CONSENT to that action. Your baby's daddy can JOIN in that action claiming to be the Father and using the DNA test to prove he is the Father. His action will prove paternity and make the child Legitimately his. With a positive test from another person the court won't force your husband to do a DNA to show he isn't the Father. The court will order the birth certificate to be changed and you can take that order to vital statistics and for $20 or so have it changed.

The Judge is going to want to put a parenting plan together which includes a child support order and a visitation plan.

On a marital counseling note, I hope you know you have a VERY long way to go with your husband. In order for you two to "work it out" he is going to have to come to terms with being the step father to the other man's child. That's a pretty tall order seeing that he or you will have to have contact with this man on a weekly or even daily basis.

Good luck, at least everyone seems to be trying to do what is right for the child.