If a child’s parents are not married at the time of its birth, establishing “parentage” indicates who the legal parents of the child are. (If the parents are married when the child is born, California family law considers the husband to be the father of the child.) Parents who are not married when a child is born can sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity before they leave the hospital, or after. This affects the child’s birth certificate (i.e. whether a father will be named) and establishes parentage for legal purposes. When people who are not married can’t agree about parentage, the court can order genetic testing.
For same sex couples, since January 1, 2005, if parents are registered domestic partners when a child is born, the law assumes that the domestic partners are the child’s parents. However, this law is new and unsettled, same sex parents should get legal advice to make sure that the parentage is clear. Depending on a family’s circumstances, a second parent adoption may be best.
Once a person is established as a legal parent of a child, that person must support the child. It is a crime for a legal parent to fail to support his or her child. A legal parent also has the right to get custody and visitation rights related to the child, barring certain circumstances (for example, abuse.)
Usually a child’s parentage must be established before the court will grant child support or custody and visitation orders. For unmarried parents, a parentage action is often the first step to pursuing child support and visitation orders.
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