Bob Whiteside wrote:
"Bob Whiteside" wrote in message
nk.net...
"Werebat" wrote in message
news:1q7oe.8864$rb6.262@lakeread07...
My latest child was born on the 18th, and came home with us almost one
week ago after his stint in the NICU. We do not yet have a birth
certificate though, partly because of some hoo-hah with the State of
Rhode Island.
Since my partner and I are not married, we were told that we needed to
sign a "voluntary affidavit of paternity" in order to have my name put
on the birth certificate. Which sounded OK at first, until we actually
read the document.
One part of the affidavit spells out that I, as the father, agree to
"assume the financial responsibility of the child". There is nothing on
the form that mentions the mother's financial responsibilities.
Both myself and my partner disagreed with this and were not comfortable
signing the document. We told the clerk at the hospital that we would
sign the document if the section about the father assuming financial
responsibility were either removed or altered to include the mother's
equal assumption of financial responsibility. We were told that this
was impossible.
Finally, I took a black pen and thoroughly scribbled out the offensive
section. Both my partner and myself signed the scribble mark, then the
document, and gave it to the clerk, who told us she "couldn't guarantee"
what the state offices would do with the document.
Wondering if they might pull some shenanigan to re-edit the document to
its original form with our signatures on it, we asked for a photocopy
then and there so we could have it for our private files. The clerk
told us that this was impossible. When asked why, she said that it was
because it was "a legal document".
This made no sense to us, so during the conversation I picked the
document up and walked away with it, thinking that if she refused to
photocopy it we could just photocopy it ourselves and then return with
it. Security was called and within moments two officers came running
up, looking ready to deal with a homocidal speed freak. I returned the
document, but we instructed the clerk to hold the paperwork because we
were not comfortable with it being sent along downtown in light of what
she had told us.
I made some calls today, spoke to the clerk's boss, spoke to her boss,
spoke to HER boss, and was finally directed to -- guess who? The Rhode
Island Department of Child Support Enforcement. Turns out these are the
folks who wrote up the document in the first place. HMM!
We are currently waiting for a response from an administrator of the
RIDCSE, so that we can explain our situation. What I have been told is
that it is impossible for a man to get his name on his child's birth
certificate without signing this "voluntary" affidavit, unless he is
ordered to appear in Family Court for purposes of Child Support.
It is a small thing, I know -- but both my partner and I are irked at
the language of the document, which appears to state that only fathers
are financially responsible for their children. We are also more than a
little upset about my basic rights of legal recognition as father of my
own child being withheld unless and until I sign a document that is
officially labelled "voluntary".
Any experience, comments, anything?
In most states there are three ways to establish paternity - presumption
(but you and your partner are not married so this does not apply),
acknowledgement (this is what they are asking you to do with the form),
and
a judicial filiation judgment (that's if you refuse to take a DNA test and
a
court rules in the future).
The form for voluntary establishment of paternity is usually called a
Joint
Declaration of Paternity. Each state is required to provide this form
under
federal law. See 42 USC 666(a) (5) (c). Therefore it is not a state form
per se.
The legal stuff is fairly simple. State's will automatically place a
married woman's husband's name on a birth certificate based on her verbal
word only. Fathers usually don't sign birth certificates - Only the
mother
and the doctor sign it.
There is no statute of limitations on the signing of a Joint Declaration
of
Paternity. Federal law prevents any state law restricting the
establishment
of paternity to less than 18 years. You can formally acknowledge
paternity
any time at a later date if this is a real issue for you and the child.
If you sign the form now, the clock will start running on the RI statutory
limit on challenging paternity. IN many states this limit is 60 days.
My recommendation - Forget the form unless the state assures you signing
the
form will get your name on the child's birth certificate as the child's
father. The form will most likely not get your name on the child's birth
certificate. You can always sign it later. If you develop a pattern of
acting as the child's father you will have the same financial obligation
in
the future as you would have by signing the form now. IOW - Only sign the
form if it gets your name on the child's birth certificate.
p.s. If you want to claim the child as your dependent for tax purposes you
will have to get married. The recent federal tax court decision limiting
child exemptions to non-married CP's, and not the child's majority financial
support provider, works against your situation. See a qualified tax
professional on how to use the child exemption under the recent decision.
There is no issue about the child's name -- we had agreed beforehand
that he would bear her last name. As far as taxes go, she earns more
than twice what I do, so it just makes good sense for her to claim him
anyway.
It looks like the sensible thing to do may be to forget about signing
them, but that seems a shame because I really would like my name to be
on his birth certificate. To be honest, all we'd really like to see
changed is either the removal of the statement that implies that the
father is the sole parent who is financially responsible for the child,
or the inclusion of a similar statement to the effect that the mother is
also financially responsible for the child. I'll talk to a bureaucrat
over at CSE when she gets around to calling back, but I think I already
know how that will go. Which is to say, about as well as my little chat
about my being labelled the "Non-Custodial Parent" of my first son on
every scrap of paper from DCSE that concerns him, when I am no such
thing (I have joint legal and physical custody).
What if my name is not on the birth certificate and my partner dies?
What if we split up under less than amicable terms? Will not having my
name on the BC prevent me from getting custody (full or joint) of my
child, or will it hamper my ability to do so?
I suppose I could just wait until his 18th birthday to sign, but even
then I'm signing to agree to something that I don't agree to. The State
should not have the power to make me sign my name to a lie in order to
establish my legal right as a parent!
- Ron ^*^
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