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How to legitimize your child


How to Legitimize a Child in Georgia?

by Mary Stearns-Montgomery

on 27 February, 2017

Under current Georgia Law, there are two ways to legitimate a child born out of wedlock: when the recognized parents of the child marry after the birth of the child or when the father petitions the superior court of the mother’s residence to legitimate the child. Although an illegitimate child still has rights, legitimizing a child in Georgia ensures that the father has rights as well. Typically, a legitimation action has two components: legitimating the child as the legal child of the father and securing legal and physical custody rights to the child. There are numerous steps in the Legitimation process, which have been outlined below.

Child Custody Services Child Support Services

Filing a Petition to Legitimate

A Father must legitimate a child before they can gain any legal or physical custodial rights to the child. There are many factors a court will consider in legitimating, including but not limited to:

  1. The paternity of the child
  2. The best interests of the child
  3. The relationship between the father and the child
  4. The fitness of the Father
  5. Whether the mother is consenting to the Legitimation

 

The Judge will look at the whole picture of the father’s life and the child’s life. Most counties in Metro Atlanta will order the Legitimation if the Mother consents. If the Mother does not consent, then the other factors will be the focus of the Court.

The Impact of Legitimation

Once a child is declared the legitimate child of the Father by the court, then the Father can ask the court for legal and physical custodial rights. Additionally, the minor child is then able to inherit from the Father. At this point, the Father will be ordered to pay child support if not already ordered to do so through the Department of Human Services or another civil action.

Custody and Visitation in a Legitimation Case

After the Petition for Legitimation is granted, the next step is determining legal and physical custody of the child. In some cases, the father will be granted primary physical custody of the child. In other cases, the mother may retain primary physical custody of the child. In a select few cases, the parties may be awarded equal or joint custody of the child. Joint custody is more likely in the more progressive counties such as Fulton County, but can be awarded in other Metro Atlanta counties as well.

If awarded joint legal custody, the parents will share legal custody of the child. Both parents will be able to access medical and educational records. On the other hand, typically one parent will be required to have final decision-making authority regarding education, religion, non-emergency medical decisions, and extracurricular activities. One of the main reasons the court may still require a tie-breaker on important decisions is so that the parties are not going back to court on the issues regarding their child.

Physical and legal custody will have a lasting impact on the parties’ relationship and their relationship with the child. It is important that you consider where you will be in future, as well as your child.

Every Legitimation case is different. There are many factors that go into a Judge’s decision on whether to legitimate a child. There are even more factors that go into granting legal and physical custody to a party.

When asking to legitimize your child, you may also ask that custody and visitation be established. The process does not have to be contentious. If both the mother and father enter into a settlement agreement with a paternity plan, then that agreement can simply be submitted to the Judge for approval, without the need of expensive litigation. Doing a consent legitimation and consent joint custody arrangement may be beneficial to both the mother and father because it would then allow the father to put the child on his health insurance, for example, and can include a name change of the child.

Whether you are a biological mom, or biological dad, we can guide you through genetic testing, paternity and legitimacy proceedings, help establish custody and parenting time, deal with name change requests of the child, and help make sure the proper amount of child support is set based on the finances of both parents.

Reference Statutes

19-7-22 (legitimation statute changed in July 2016)

The new version has deleted the administrative acknowledgment of paternity which mentioned legitimizing the child if a voluntary statement of legitimation was also included in the acknowledgment of paternity. This seems to be a direct result of the decision in Ray v Hann (2013 case) that said a child could be legitimized through administrative proceedings.

19-7-25 states that a mother has all the rights until a father legitimates the relationship. As a result, the acknowledgment of paternity only establishes paternity. 19-7-46.1 states that an acknowledgment of paternity shall establish the biological father, but shall not constitute a legal determination pursuant to 19-7-22.

The acknowledgment of paternity, already questionable on the legal significance of said documents, is now nothing more than a document stating he is the biological father but doesn’t even render the relationship legitimate anymore.

Note: A father DOES NOT and CANNOT take a child or they could be charged with kidnapping until a court establishes a legitimate relationship.

Stearns-Montgomery & Proctor—an Atlanta‑area Family Law Firm

With offices in Alpharetta, Buckhead, Dunwoody and Marietta, the family lawyers at Stearns-Montgomery & Proctor provide experienced divorce representation throughout the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. If you are contemplating divorce or adjusting to life after divorce and would like to speak with an attorney, we invite you to get in touch. To schedule a confidential consultation at one of our four convenient locations, please call (678) 971-3413 or request an appointment online today. Weekend and evening appointments are available.

What is the Legitimation of a Child?

Dec 22, 2017 | Family Law

If the father and mother of a child were never married, the father does not automatically share the same parental rights as the mother does. If the father wishes to remain active in the child’s life, he must go through a legal process called legitimation, in order to be legally recognized as the child’s father. It can be difficult to know what to do in this situation, but Pond Law is here to explain what you need to know about the legitimation of a child.

What Does Legitimation of a Child Mean?

Legitimation is a legal action which grants parental rights to the biological father of a child who is born out of wedlock. It is the only way, besides marrying the mother of the child, for a father to establish a legal relationship with his child.

If a child is born to a married couple, or if the couple marries after the child is born, the child is considered legitimate. In these cases, the law automatically recognizes the husband and wife as having parental rights to the child.

However, if the couple is not married, the father must file a petition for legitimation if he wishes to be involved in his child’s life. Without legitimation, the father cannot obtain custody, exercise visitation rights, or make legal decisions on behalf of the child. The mother holds these rights exclusive of the father unless he pursues legitimation.

Requirements for Child Legitimation

There are two methods to legitimize a child.

The first is entering into an agreement with the child’s mother, which is called an acknowledgment of legitimation. This legal agreement states that both parents freely consent to the legitimation of their child. They usually have until the child’s first birthday to sign this acknowledgement. However, it will not be recognized if the mother was married to another man when the child was born, or during the usual time of gestation.

The second way is by filing a petition for legitimation. The father can take this route if the mother disputes the legitimation and does not agree to the acknowledgement described above. The petition is usually filed in the Superior Court in the county of the mother’s residence. The mother is formally notified and has a right to attend the hearing.

The father should be sure to file for legitimation in a timely manner. If the court finds that no action has been taken within a reasonable amount of time, they could dismiss the father as forfeiting his parental rights. Waiting more than one year after the child’s birth is usually considered an unreasonable delay.

The court will only approve the father’s petition if he is deemed to be a suitable parent, and if it is in the child’s best interest.

Benefits of Legitimizing Your Child

It is important for a father to file for legitimation if he wants to establish a relationship with his child, without marrying the mother. Legitimizing your child offers several benefits which make a relationship possible and protected by law.

Most importantly, the father becomes legally recognized, just the same as if he had been married to the mother. When a father-child relationship is established in the eyes of the law, the father now has shared custody and visitation rights, so he cannot be barred from seeing his child.

Legitimation is important because it protects a father’s relationship with his child. There are cases when, after a DNA test, the biological father is required to pay child support, even without being legally recognized as the father. In this case, the father has no custody or visitation rights, but he is still mandated to support the child financially. For this reason, fathers should legitimate their children. They accept the responsibility of supporting their children, but they will not be barred from custody or visiting.

Legitimation also allows the child to inherit automatically from his father, and vice versa. The court might also determine that it is in the child’s best interest to take the father’s last name, or to add the father’s name to the child’s birth certificate.

Conclusion

Filing for legitimation can be a difficult or frustrating process. If you have any questions, contact Pond Law, or request a consultation. Our qualified team is here to help you.

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State registration of establishing paternity - Official website of the Administration of St. Petersburg

State registration of the establishment of paternity is carried out by the civil registry office at the place of residence of the father or mother of the child, who are not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child, or at the place of state registration of the birth of the child, as well as at the place where the court decision was made to establish paternity or to establish acknowledgment of paternity.

The basis for state registration of paternity establishment is:

  • a joint statement on the establishment of paternity of the father and mother of the child, who are not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child;
  • a statement establishing the paternity of the father of a child who is not married to the mother of the child at the time of the birth of the child, if the mother is dead, deprived of parental rights, missing, or her whereabouts are unknown.
  • a court decision on the establishment of paternity or on the establishment of the fact of recognition of paternity, which has entered into force.

State registration of establishing paternity on the basis of a joint application of the father and mother of the child who were not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child

  1. A joint statement on the establishment of paternity of the father and mother of the child, who are not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child, is submitted by them personally in writing to the civil registry office.
  2. A joint application for the establishment of paternity may be submitted during the state registration of the birth of a child, as well as after the state registration of the birth of a child.
  3. In the event that there is reason to believe that filing a joint declaration of paternity after the birth of the child may be impossible or difficult, the future father and mother of the child, who are not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child, may file such a declaration during the mother's pregnancy. If there is such an application, the state registration of the establishment of paternity is carried out simultaneously with the state registration of the birth of the child and a new application is not required, if before the state registration of the birth of the child the previously submitted application was not withdrawn by the father or mother. Such an application, filed before the birth of the child, confirms the agreement of the parents of the future of the child to give him the father’s or mother’s surname and first name (depending on the sex of the child born). When paternity is established after the birth of the child, a birth certificate of the child is submitted simultaneously with a joint statement on the establishment of paternity, and if such an application is submitted before the birth of the child, a document confirming pregnancy of the mother, issued by a medical organization or a private practitioner.
  4. In the event that the father or mother of the child is unable to personally submit the application, the signature of the person who is unable to be present when the application is submitted must be notarized.

State registration of establishing paternity at the request of the father who is not married to the mother of the child at the time of the birth of the child

  1. State registration of the establishment of paternity at the request of the father, who is not married to the mother of the child at the time of the birth of the child, is carried out in the event of the death of the mother, the recognition of her incapable, the absence of information about the place of residence of the mother or the deprivation of her parental rights, as well as in the presence of consent to establish paternity guardianship authority.
  2. The father's application for the establishment of paternity is submitted by him in writing to the civil registry office. Simultaneously with the submission of such an application, a mother’s death certificate, a court decision on declaring the mother incapable or depriving her of parental rights, or a court decision on declaring the mother missing or a document issued by the internal affairs body at the mother’s last known place of residence, confirming the impossibility of establishing her place of residence.
  3. When a father submits an application to establish paternity in respect of a person who has not reached the age of majority, a document issued by the guardianship and guardianship body confirming the consent of this body to establish paternity must be submitted simultaneously with the application.

State registration of establishing paternity in respect of a person who has reached the age of majority

If the state registration of the establishment of paternity is carried out in respect of a person who has reached the age of majority by the day of filing an application for the establishment of paternity, the consent in writing of the person who has reached the age of majority to establish paternity must be submitted simultaneously with such an application.

State registration of establishing paternity on the basis of a court decision

State registration of the establishment of paternity on the basis of a court decision on the establishment of paternity or on the establishment of the fact of recognition of paternity is carried out at the request of the mother or father of the child, the guardian (custodian) of the child, the person who is dependent on the child, or the child himself, who has reached the age of majority.

Simultaneously with the application for state registration of the establishment of paternity, a court decision on the establishment of paternity or on the establishment of the fact of recognition of paternity shall be submitted.

How to register a child if the parents are not registered or the father has another family?

"The birth of a child is not a reason to put a stamp in the passport", - so many modern couples think, and even after learning about a woman's pregnancy, they are in no hurry to officially register their relationship. According to Rosstat, the number of registered marriages is declining from year to year, while the birth rate is increasing, which means that more and more children in Russia are born out of wedlock. Previously, such children were called illegitimate, but now they have equal rights with children born in a registered family. True, in order to register a child whose parents are not registered, you need to understand some legal aspects, which we will discuss in this article.

Maternity is always determined by the fact of birth and is confirmed by an appropriate medical document, but the situation with establishing paternity is more complicated. If the parents of the child are in an officially registered marriage, then at the request of any of them (the signature of one spouse is enough), the child is recorded in the birth book.

If the parents are not officially married or the child's father has another family, the record of the child's father is made on the joint application of the father and mother of the child, or on the application of the child's father. In case of disagreement or refusal to recognize the child, the father is recorded according to the court decision after paternity is established.

It is important to note that even if the marriage has already been officially dissolved and the child was born within three hundred days of the dissolution of the marriage, the mother's spouse (now ex) is recognized as the child's father, unless otherwise is proven. What surname the child will have, the parents decide jointly, and in case of disagreement on this issue, the decision will be made by the guardianship and guardianship authority.

You will also have to prove paternity through the court if the child's father died before the child was born and the marriage was not registered. In this case, the court will take into account testimonies, the existence of a joint household and jointly acquired property, and other details indicating that the child's parents lived together. When paternity is established, the child will have equal rights with other children of the deceased, including claiming a share of the inheritance.

Subtleties of registration

An application for the birth of a child must be made to the registry office no later than one month from the date of birth of the child, and there is no specific deadline for submitting an application for establishing paternity, since such an application can be submitted as with state registration of the birth of a child , and after. If the father of the child does not agree to recognize paternity (as discussed above) or if the mother does not agree to his registration as the father of her child, then paternity can be established in court at the request of both the father and the mother. The legislator provided for the possibility of submitting a preliminary application for the establishment of paternity even during the pregnancy of the mother of the child, in the presence of circumstances giving reason to believe that filing a joint application for the establishment of paternity may be impossible or difficult after the birth of the child.

Is it necessary to document paternity at all?

If the child's father does not want to acknowledge paternity, then before going to court, a woman should ask herself, does she really want to formalize this paternity? The fact is that in the future she may have problems, for example, with the export of a child abroad: every time she will have to apply to her father for a written permission to export a minor outside the Russian Federation.

At the same time, if a man refuses to communicate with a child, the court will be able to oblige him to pay alimony, but will not be able to force him to communicate with the baby and participate in his upbringing.

How to register a child born without a father?

Unfortunately, there are situations in life when a woman does not know who the father of her child is, or the child was born from a casual relationship. The procedure for its registration is completely identical, with the only difference being that, at the request of the mother of the child, a dash is put in the column “Father”, which does not affect his rights in any way.

Chapter 11 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation lists and discloses in detail all the fundamental rights of the child, including:

  1. The right to live and be brought up in a family, including the right to know one's parents, the right to be cared for by them, the right to live with them and ensure their interests, all-round development, respect for one's human dignity;

  2. The right of the child to communicate with both parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other relatives;

  3. The child's right to protection, both from his parents and from guardianship and guardianship authorities;

  4. The right of the child to express his/her opinion in resolving any issue in the family that affects his/her interests;

  5. The child's right to a given name, patronymic and surname. The name of the child is given by agreement of the parents, the patronymic is assigned by the name of the father. The surname of the child is determined by the surname of the parents. With different surnames of the parents, the child is assigned the surname of the father or the surname of the mother by agreement of the parents. In the absence of an agreement between the parents regarding the name and (or) surname of the child, the disagreements that have arisen are resolved by the body of guardianship and guardianship;

  6. The child has the right to receive maintenance from his parents and other family members, including all his personal property rights, that is, to be the owner of any property.

The most important thing is to know that unregistered relationships, divorce, annulment or separation of parents do not affect the rights of the child . Also, there is absolutely no difference in the rights, their scope and obligatory observance of children born in a legal marriage to two parents, and children born in an incomplete family with one parent.

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