Other than the child’s right to know and be known by his father, there are many legal benefits to it. The child has the right to obtain financial benefits from his biological father. Other than regular child support, the child also has a legal right to his father’s death benefits. Such benefits include including social security or Veteran's benefits and possible inheritance. Another legal benefit includes access to his father’s medical history. If your child’s paternity is established, he can be informed of any genetic medical issues that could have been passed on from the biological father.
In the event that a father would like to establish paternity voluntarily, he should just simply acknowledge the child. As such, he signs on to shoulder the responsibilities posed in rearing a child. Most significant here for most cases is the financial support until the child reaches the age of majority.
A father can voluntarily establish paternity in two ways. First, he will be present at the birth of his child and sign a Declaration of Paternity or Acknowledgment of Paternity. Such documentation is important to obtain the father's name and placed on the child's birth certificate. Second, if he fails to be present at the birth of his child, he can submit an affidavit of paternity. This affidavit is due until the child turns 18. If the affidavit is not submitted before the birth certificate is issued, a mother may opt to apply for the alteration of the child’s birth certificate and add the father’s name.
However, if the alleged father does not voluntarily acknowledged paternity, there are ways to establish the paternity of the child formally. The formal process includes seven steps. First is the meeting of parents to talk about the process of establishing paternity. Second, the mother has to sign an affidavit that indicates the identity of the alleged father.
After doing the first and second steps, the next move would be locating the alleged father. It can be done through governmental agencies such as Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) to name a few. If the alleged father is found, the next step would be contacting and giving him a chance to acknowledge paternity voluntarily. If he denies, requesting of all parties to be submitted to a genetic testing can be done. In any case that the alleged father does not submit to genetic testing, he can be determined as the child’s father by default.
The last step would be informing the alleged father of the paternity. If he does not contest such results, it will be then recognized as a conclusive determination of paternity after two months or 60 days.
