Beware the Sneaky “Acknowledgement of Paternity”!

Men, as more and more people have children out of wedlock, there is an insidious practice which you should be aware of — that is, being asked to sign an “Acknowledgment of Paternity” form at the hospital. Usually, if/when you visit the mother and child at the hospital right after the birth of the child, you will be asked by hospital social services, nurses or sometimes the mother to sign a document called “Acknowledgement of Paternity.” This is a document that, once you sign it, establishes you as the child’s legal father unless you later timely challenge it through a court proceeding. Once you’ve signed it, it creates a legal basis for obligating you to pay child support and provide medical support. I’ve had many gentlemen clients who learned the hard way that when they signed it “just to be nice” to the mother, or because they felt emotionally they should sign it even though they weren’t sure they were the actual biological father, they set themselves up for being the legal father/paying child support for life even though they were not sure they were the biological father or even though they were not the biological father.

Unless you are 110% positive you are the biological father of the baby, do NOT sign an Acknowledgement of Paternity. Have genetic testing done as soon as practical just to confirm whether you are, in fact, the biological father. If you are, it is simple to establish that without signing an Acknowledgement.

However, if you HAVE signed one and you are not sure you are the child’s biological father, by all means contact us so we can effectively challenge it in Court.

Give me a call, let me help you.