I need to know whether a baby will be 'ours' or just the mothers in law because it used to be that children belonged to the mother if the father wasn't married to her and he would then have to adopt the child giving the mother no legal rights. Is this still the case?
2007-03-02 01:37:46 · 9 answers · asked by little1miss9 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
I am an unmarried mother who lives with the father of my children. We have been together more than 7 years, but there's not a common law marriage law in our state. When our children were born (they are ages 5 and 3), I put him down on the birth certificate as being the father, which legally binds him to them. I think the only way that a father wouldn't have rights is if the mother did not put his name on the birth certificate, which means he would have to get a court-ordered paternity test to prove fatherhood. We have never run into any issues with our children just because him and I aren't married. The kids have his last name but I don't. That's another decision the mother gets to make on the birth certificate: whether or not to give the father's last name or her own (most everybody I know has given their children the father's last name).
2007-03-02 01:46:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The answer to this question has always depended on the state.
In Michigan for instance the husband of a married woman is presumed to be the father of the child and is listed on the birth certificate as such. This has always been the case. He can only be removed if DNA tests show that he is not the father. If i remember right the father also has to be known and the entire matter has to be resolved in court unless all parties are amicable, have the testing done independently and petition the state to have the birth certificate amended.
Again in Michigan with an unmarried woman, she used to be able to write the man down and he was presumed to be the father. This has changed in the past ten or so years-now the man has to be there to be listed on the birth certificate or else it is left blank with the woman being listed as unmarried. The father then has to take a DNA test to prove paternity to be added to the certificate.
I hope this helps
2007-03-02 09:55:51 · answer #2 · answered by msijg 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The mothers always had the option of putting the fathers name on the birth certificate the reasons alot of unmarried women do not do this is because they do not want the father to ever be able to take custody of the child if they break up downside to that is they also have a hard time getting child support because if they say its somebodys and then the somebody says no its not it could be anybodys the woman then will have to ask the court for a DNA test in order to obtain child support and that is how it is..
2007-03-02 09:43:16 · answer #3 · answered by Mary O 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The 1989 Children Act summarises it up. If the parents aren't married then the dad hasn't got a leg to stand on. The mum has all the rights to the child if the couple split up. Make sure you have something set up just in case. Sadly the law is an *** regarding children born this way but hopefully things will change.
2007-03-02 09:46:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If a child is born to an unwed couple, the mother has custody of the child - the father is responsible only for child support. It is not necessary to "adopt" the child...just marry the mother. You then share custody of the child.
If you and the mother have an issue about who gets custody, only a court can make a decision.
2007-03-02 10:00:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the father is on the birth certificate then it doesn't make a difference if the parents are married or not.
If not on the birth certificate then you can get this changed but both parents will need to be present.
This is presuming you are talking about biological children?
2007-03-02 10:01:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My boyfriend and I share a child, we live together, we just choose not to be married, when our son was born we gave him my boyfriends last name and he signed the birth certificate. Legally he belongs to both of us. The only reason you would have to go through the courts is if he didn't sign the birth certificate and decided later he wanted to
2007-03-02 10:23:20 · answer #7 · answered by kc 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In terms of registering the birth I believe the law automatically assumes that if you are married then your husband is the father. however if you are not married then you need the father to be present to register the birth in order to get his name on the birth certificate.
2007-03-02 10:14:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try the site below for research on this topic. Make sure to change the location/state in which you reside. Hope this helps.
2007-03-02 10:58:49 · answer #9 · answered by citronge69 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋