When an out-of-wedlock child is born in Florida, we are often asked if that is enough to establish paternity. The establishment of paternity ensures the right to child support (typically) for the mother as well as the father’s right to a timesharing schedule and shared parental responsibility – joint decision-making.
Florida law clearly outlines the steps to establishing paternity when a child is born. Chapter 382.013, F.S., details how the placing of the execution by the father of an Acknowledgment of Paternity can lead to having the father’s name on the child’s birth certificate. The father’s name cannot be placed on the birth certificate unless the mother and the father sign an affidavit (i.e., a sworn notarized statement witnessed by two persons) or the Acknowledgment stating that the signatories are in fact the birth parents. The hospital in which the birth is to occur is required to advise the signatories of the consequences of signing or not signing the affidavit. If one of the parents is a minor, the hospital is required to also advise as to the legal effect of being a minor as well.
Unless the person who signed the Acknowledgment or other affidavit rescinds the document within sixty (60) days of signing it, the document creates a ‘rebuttable presumption’ of paternity that can only be challenged by showing that it was signed as a result of fraud, duress or ‘material mistake of fact.’ Assuming these challenges are not raised or established in court, paternity is established by law. No further action is required by the birth father or the mother, and the birth father’s name is established on the birth certificate of the child. He is now the ‘legal father’ of the child.
Our office has successfully handled many hundreds of paternity cases and is available to help you as the mother, birth father, or one challenging a determination of paternity.