Yes, You Can Claim Your Unmarried Fathers Rights

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Historically, unmarried fathers rights have been limited with respect to their kids compared to either unwed mothers or married parents. In recent years, single fathers have actually tested the termination of their parental rights under the Fourteenth Amendment in instances where the biological Mother relinquished their children for adoption.

According to legal experts , the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional defense of such a father’s parental rights when he has set up a substantial relationship with his biological child.

All states have arrangements for a father to voluntarily acknowledge paternity, or the possibility of paternity, for a child outside of a marriage relationship.  Many experts counsel unmarried potential fathers to obtain definitive paternity test results before acknowledging paternity.   At the state level, around 24 states have set up paternity registries to allow unmarried fathers to register.  In 11 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, there are arrangements for voluntary acknowledgment of paternity by means of forms that are filed with social services divisions, registrars of vital statistics, or additional similar agencies.

Once paternity is verified (for the unmarried father’s protection), registration can guarantee specific rights for an unmarried  father such as the right to notice of court process relating to the child, such as requests for adoption, and actions to terminate parental rights.  This may be this single best method for developing this right of notice. An acknowledged father could also seek visitation with the child and usually will be needed to provide financial assistance to the child.  Registrationwill trigger the States interest in child support participation.

Access to information maintained in paternity registries also varies from state to state. Several jurisdictions allow particular individuals accessibility to registry documents. Generally, these are individuals with a direct interest in a particular situation. Commonly, persons qualified to access this data are both of the the birth parent, courts, attorneys, licensed adoption companies, potential adoptive parents, state divisions of social services, child support enforcement agency personnel, or other individuals upon a sufficient order from  a court of competent jurisdiction.

The single father can technically attempt to claim his rights at any time, his success in doing so may be dependent to some degree on when he acknowledges paternity.  The State of course prefers and has set up procedures to establish those rights as soon as possible after the child is born.  Under this carrot and stick approach the State may be able to limit the single fathers rights if paternity is not acknowledged according to their wishes.

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