Q: Can I put my husband on my son's birth certificate if he isn't the father and the birth father refuses to be in his life
My sons birth father has explicitly said that he wants nothing to do with my son going so far as to refer to him as "it" when I told him about his birth. Can I just put my husband on the birth certificate without him being the father? Or do I have to go to court and prove abandonment?
A: Putting your husband on the birth certificate would be a lie. Ideally, if your husband is willing, he should adopt your son, and the birth father can consent to the adoption and relinquish his parental rights. Your husband then becomes the legal parent of your son, and takes on all the same legal obligations as if he were the birth father. Through adoption, the birth father will get what he wants: complete release of all legal liability for his son. You should have a conversation with your husband about whether he is prepared to take on the legal obligations of fatherhood for the next 18 years at least, which includes paying child support in the event you separate or divorce. Your husband would also gain equal status to you as the parent of your son, so in any future dispute over custody or visitation, he would have the same rights as you to seek full custody. On the other hand, adoption will remove any future risk that the birth father comes back into your son's life to exercise legal access and visitation. A step-parent adoption is a fairly straightforward proceeding once you decide to go forward with it, but the decision should not be made lightly.
Marie-Yves Nadine Jean-Baptiste agrees with this answer
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
