Add a Name Field Legal Alabama Paternity Forms For Free

When the case goes to trial, the mother may be required to be present in court to testify about the father. In addition, the mother, the child, and the alleged father may need to take genetic tests to help the court determine paternity.

(If you're not on the birth certificate, your rights are more limited than what we discuss here, but you have what we call “latent rights”, or rights that you must assert or otherwise initially establish to be able to enforce.

In Alabama, the simplest way to establish paternity is voluntarily, with both the mother and father signing a form that acknowledges paternity by identifying the child's legal father. Once parents have filled out this form and it has been properly filed, the father's name can be added to the child's birth certificate.

Alabama law permits several parties, including the child's mother, the presumed father, and various agencies, to initiate paternity litigation.

The case should be filed in the juvenile court for the county where the child resides. The court will order a genetic test for the mother, child and the putative father. A case can be brought anytime after the child's birth, but before the child's 18th birthday.

The alleged father and the mother can establish paternity by completing an Acknowledgment of Paternity through an in-hospital paternity process shortly after the birth of the child, or later at the Department of Human Resources office.

An affidavit of paternity allows an Alabama court to move on quickly to the issues of child custody, support and visitation. If the father disputes or will not acknowledge paternity, the Alabama court will order a DNA test to prove the identity of the father of the minor child.

There are four ways by which a father's name can be added to the birth certificate: Court Ordered Legitimation - Processed through a Probate Court. Legitimation through Marriage - Processed by Center for Health Statistics when parents marry after the birth of their child.

The first way to establish paternity is voluntarily. Fathers and mothers may agree to sign a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity form which identifies who the child's legal father is. Once this form is signed and filed, the father's name can be added to the child's birth certificate.