What is Parentage? 

Parentage cases (also known as "paternity cases") involve the court making orders as to which individuals will retain status as the legal parent(s) of a child or children. If parents are married when a child is born, there is usually no question about parentage. In such cases, the law assumes that the husband is the father and the wife is the mother, so paternity is automatically established in most cases. However, in the case of unmarried parents, the parentage of their children needs to be established legally.

If the parents of a child were not married when the mother became pregnant or when the child was born, the child does not have a legal father until parentage is established. So even if a father can prove he is the biological father of a child, he does not legally have any rights or responsibilities for the child if he and the mother were never wed. Parentage must always be established legally.

Why establish parentage? 

Establishing parentage is very important for a child. First and foremost, the child gets the emotional benefit of knowing the irrefutable identify of his or her parents. Additionally, established parentage legally entitles the child to the same rights and privileges as those of a child whose parents are married. Such legal rights and privileges include:

• Financial support from both parents;
• Legal documentation identifying both parents;
• Having the names of both parents on the child’s birth certificate;
• Access to family medical records and history;
• Health and life insurance coverage from either parent;
• The right to inherit from either parent; and
• The right to receive social security and veteran’s benefits, if available.

Once parentage is established, the court can make orders for child support, health insurance, child custody, visitation, name change, and reimbursement of pregnancy and birth expenses. Without establishing parentage, the court cannot make orders regarding these issues, so if one parent needs child support and the other will not pay voluntarily, the court will not be able to order child support until parentage is established.

What are my rights and responsibilities as a parent? 

Once a person is established as the father or mother of a child, he or she will have all the rights and responsibilities of a parent:

• He or she will be able to request custody and visitation orders from the court so that he or she can legally visit with his or her child.
• He or she also will be responsible for paying child support and will have to pay half of the uninsured health-care costs for the children and half of the child-care costs that result from the custodial parent getting or having a job or going to school.