Acknowledgment Of Paternity (AOP)
About
About An Acknowledgment Of Paternity (AOP)
An Acknowledgment Of Paternity (AOP) is a legal document that is signed by a father to acknowledge that he is the biological father of the child.
The document is typically used to establish paternity for the purpose of obtaining child support or other benefits for the child. It may also be used to establish legal rights for the father, such as the right to visitation or custody.
The AOP form is typically signed voluntarily and in the presence of a notary public, and it can be signed at the hospital after the child's birth or at any time after the child's birth, but before the child's 18th birthday.
If the father is not sure if he is the biological father of the child, he may want to consider DNA testing before signing the AOP form.
What You Need To Know
Acknowledging paternity is a way to establish who is the biological father when the parents are not married to each other. The parents may sign an acknowledgment of paternity form at the hospital when the child is born. The acknowledgment may also be signed at a later date. The acknowledgment should then be filed with the State Vital Records Registry.
If the unmarried parents sign the acknowledgment at the hospital when the child is born, the child's last name on the birth certificate may be the last name of the father, if the mother agrees; or the child's last name may be a combination of the last name of the father and the mother's maiden name.
If the biological father is under the age of 18, the acknowledgment must be authorized by his legal tutor(s). If the minor father's parents are married the signature of the minor father's father alone will suffice. If the parents of the minor father are judicially separated, divorced, or were never married, the parent awarded custody may sign the authorization. If the parents have joint custody, both parents must sign. If one or both parents of the minor father are absent, the legal guardian may consent to the acknowledgment.
The acknowledgment of paternity can be mailed to a parent anywhere to be signed. Both parents must sign in front of two witnesses and a notary public. The form should then be filed with the State Vital Records Registry.
If the parents are not married to each other when the child is born, the man is not the legal father. Living with the mother or getting married later does not make him the father in the eyes of the law. The child's rights can be protected only by establishing paternity. Signing the acknowledgment is one way to establish paternity.
An authentic act of acknowledgment may be canceled without cause under the following conditions (whichever comes first):
A person who signed an acknowledgment may ask the court to cancel the acknowledgment upon proof of fraud, duress, material mistake of fact or error, or that the person is not the biological parent of the child. An acknowledgment cannot be canceled without a court hearing.
Child Born Outside Marriage
Acknowledgment Of Paternity For Children Born Outside Marriage
When a child is born outside of marriage, the biological father is not automatically recognized as the legal father of the child. To establish legal paternity, the father and mother may need to complete an Acknowledgement of Paternity (AOP) form.
For an Acknowledgment of Paternity: Child Born Outside of Marriage, click here.
Child Born Of Marriage
Acknowledgment Of Paternity For Child Born Of Marriage
When a child is born during a marriage, the husband is presumed to be the legal father of the child. If another man believes he is the biological father of the child, he may wish to establish paternity through a legal process. In some cases, an Acknowledgment Of Paternity (AOP) form may get used to establish paternity. Additional steps may be necessary to remove the legal presumption of paternity that exists when a child is born during a marriage.
For an Acknowledgment of Paternity: Child Born of Marriage, click here.
This Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit is used to add the biological father to a child's birth certificate. This can be used where the mother was married to someone other than the biological father at the time of the child's birth or if she had not been divorced at least 300 days prior to the child's birth.
This form requires the notarized signatures of the mother, the husband/ex-husband, and the biological father.
In order for this form to be accepted, it must accompany a DNA-based paternity test identifying the father with at least a 99.9% probability from a DNA testing laboratory.
Revoking An AOP
Revoking An Acknowledgment Of Paternity (AOP)
A person who has acknowledged paternity may want to have that acknowledgment revoked. The person must complete a Revocation Of Acknowledgment Of Paternity Affidavit. The document must get filed with Vital Records within a 60-day period from first signing an AOP. Any person can revoke an AOP without cause if they do it within 60 days of completing the AOP.
For a Revocation of Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit, click here.