Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

) Biological Fathers and Legitimization
All states have legal procedures for establishing the paternity of children born out of
wedlock, or when the husband is found to not be the child’s father, pursuant to state
law:
The Commonwealth has an interest in its infant citizens having two parents
to provide and care for them. There is a legitimate interest in not furnishing
financial assistance for children who have a father capable of support. The
Commonwealth is concerned in having a father responsible for a child born
out of wedlock. This not only tends to reduce the welfare burden by keeping
minor children, who have a financially able parent, off the rolls, but it also
provides an identifiable father from whom potential recovery may be had of
welfare payments which are paid to support the child born out of wedlock.
[Rivera v. Minnich, 506 A.2d 879 (Pa. 1986).]
If the mother is not married at the time of a child’s birth, a father wishing to
establish legal paternity must legally acknowledge the child as his own. In some
states, this may be as simple as filing a form with the birth certificate. In other
states, it may require a full court proceeding similar to an adoption. If the mother
agrees that he is the father, a man seeking to acknowledge the child as his own
usually does not have to prove that he is the biologic father to be declared the legal
father of the child. If more than one man seeks to acknowledge the child or if the
mother refuses to recognize the man as the father of the child, the courts in most
states can order blood tests to determine paternity.
States also provide for the testing of potential fathers who do not voluntarily
acknowledge their children. These lawsuits may be brought by the mother or by the
state on behalf of the child. It is common for the state to require an unmarried
woman seeking public assistance to identify the father (if known) of her children.
Although a state is free to establish a stricter standard of proof, the U.S. Supreme
Court has found that it is constitutional to establish paternity with a preponderance
of the evidence standard. By allowing this less strict standard of proof than the
standard required for termination of parental rights, the courts recognize the strong
societal interest in the legitimation of children. Once the court rules that a man is
the legal father of the child, the man has the same rights and duties regarding the
child as would the husband of the mother.
c) Termination of Parental Rights
Parental rights are not inalienable. Courts may terminate a parent’s rights regarding
a child if it is determined that the parent is unfit. In limited circumstances, a person
may voluntarily relinquish his or her parental rights. The standards for proving a
case for terminating a parent’s rights are stricter than the standard for establishing
those rights. Although a court may determine paternity based on a preponderance
of the evidence, the state must prove a parent’s unfitness by clear and convincing
evidence because of the importance attached to a person’s right to be a parent.
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