raincitygirl | (no subject)

A propos of nothing, do both parents have to sign a baby's birth certificate? I'm just wondering because what if the parents are estranged by the time the kid is born and the father's not around, can the mother put him on the birth certificate anyway, or does he need to sign? I wonder about the weirdest things sometimes. I blame my commute. Packed in like a sardine with nothing to do but think, because it's often too crowded for me to take out my phone and google the answer to whatever question I'm wondering about. Plus, I do have a data plan, but it's not limitless. This is why I should listen to music more often on my commute. Turn off the old trivia brain.

I have a cold. Icky.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It works much the same these days (at least where I live): if a man and woman are married, he is legally presumed to be the father. If parents are unmarried, mom can write whatever she wants on the birth certificate, but it doesn't become legally binding until he either signs a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity, or until court-ordered paternity testing shows him to be the father. (And if a man and woman are married, but some other man is the father and they all want to acknowledge it, the married man also has to sign a relinquishment of paternity.)

Fascinating. Thank you!