How to Change the Name on a Paternity Affidavit
The paternity affidavit is used to put a father's name on a child's birth certificate. Paternity can be established with a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity or by a local child support enforcement agency. If you give birth to a child while unmarried or have not been married in the prior 270-300 days (nine months, the period of gestation) prior to giving birth, it may be necessary to establish paternity using a paternity affidavit. If, after this name has been entered on a birth certificate, there is a question of paternity, it is possible to change the name on a paternity affidavit.
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Instructions
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Making Name Changes If You are Married
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Dispute the paternity of the child. Each state has separate laws regarding paternity, but most make the assumption that if the woman is married at the time of the child's birth, her husband is the father of any child born during the marriage. In order to dispute this assumption, an affidavit of paternity will need to be created with the actual father. Some states require a husband to give up parental rights of any child born to his wife during the marriage. Consult the specific paternity laws of your state.
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Determine paternity of the child with genetic testing. If a man refuses to submit to genetic testing, a court can order paternity testing on a man and child to enforce child support payments or to add or change a father's name on a birth certificate.
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File the new paternity affidavit with your state's appropriate agency. If you are changing the name of the father on your child's birth certificate, you will need legal documentation from the court or child support agency. Most states keep birth certificates on record with a Vital Statistics Office. Check with your state for the appropriate place to file a paternity affidavit change.
Making Name Changes If You are Single
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Determine the actual father of a child. If you have given birth and are not married or have not been married in the previous 270 to 300 days prior to giving birth (the period of gestation), you will need to name a father on the birth certificate via a paternity affidavit. The father has the option of acknowledging paternity, in which case his name will automatically be put on a birth certificate.
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Acquire a paternity affidavit from the real father. The real father of a child will need to sign a paternity affidavit acknowledging his paternity of the child in question. If the father refuses, the court can order genetic testing or automatically assign paternity to the father in question.
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File the paternity affidavit form with your state to change the name on your child's birth certificate. Because there may be a time limit as to how long after the child's birth you may file a new paternity affidavit to change the name of a child's legal father, check with your individual state.
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Tips & Warnings
In order to receive child support, you will need to establish paternity with your family court division. A family court can order genetic testing.
Your state may have a time limit for changing the name on a paternity affidavit, check with your state's Office of Vital Statistics to see if there are any restrictions in your state.
