Voluntary recognition of paternity outside of marriage

Quite often in our time, a woman and a man live together without formalizing their relationship legally. Therefore, it does not surprise anyone that children with such a union appear outside of marriage. It is precisely such cases that give rise to questions about how to formalize the relationship between the baby and the father. In this article we will consider voluntary recognition of paternity as one of the most acceptable options for parents who live in a civil marriage. Indeed, very often the fate of a newborn baby may depend on this decision.

Ordinary civilian family

Nowadays, you probably won’t surprise anyone with a civil marriage. However, from a legal point of view this is not entirely correct wording. After all, a civil marriage implies the settlement of relations through the registry office. But... Among the huge population, it is precisely the coexistence of two people on the same territory - in a house or apartment - that they are accustomed to calling a civil marriage, even if they did not formalize their relationship.

And indeed, other things being equal, a man and a woman represent a full-fledged unit of society, albeit without a stamp in their passports. But when a baby is born in such a family, both parents must go to the registry office so that paternity is established. This procedure is not complicated or long. The choice of the surname of a toddler who was born out of wedlock depends only on the parents - as they decide, so it will happen.

If the father or mother does not recognize paternity

The fact that fathers are stubborn and do not recognize paternity is understandable, because not everyone is so noble that they are ready to pay alimony. Women may oppose paternity determination for their own reasons. For example, in order not to ask the father’s permission in the future for the child to travel abroad, and also to consult with him on other issues regarding the child.

Without the father's consent, paternity can only be recognized through court. Both parents have equal rights. Even when the mother is against it, a man can establish his paternity and give the child his last name. Also, a woman can go to court if a man disagrees, establish paternity, and then collect alimony.

If paternity needs to be established in relation to a foreign citizen, then the claim is filed at the place of registration of the plaintiff. The case will be reviewed and the results will be sent through our consulate in the country of residence of the potential father.

The father voluntarily does not recognize his baby

In such a situation, the mother or the child himself (if he has already reached the age of majority) has every right to file a lawsuit for recognition of paternity. Quite often, in parallel with such a statement of claim, there is also a statement to force the negligent parent to pay child support. Here it should be taken into account that alimony will be collected from the father only from the moment there is a positive court decision. For all the previous time, the father will not pay anything. It should also be taken into account that alimony will be accrued only from the amount that represents the official salary of the generous dad.

Recognition of paternity outside of marriage is voluntary, as is already clear, in this case it is impossible. But well, a variety of situations are possible.

A mother who decides to take such steps should also think about the fact that a situation may subsequently arise in which, after some time, she will deprive this father of parental rights due to the fact that he evades paying child support for their common baby.

In what cases will the issue not be resolved through the registry office?

Family law describes options for the development of events in which it is impossible to make a record that a man recognizes himself as a father in the registry office. They boil down to the following:

The man died without having time to make an official declaration of will recognizing himself as the father of the child.
The woman does not give her consent to change the birth record of her son or daughter.
There is already a man who has recognized himself as the legal parent.
The adult child does not agree to recognize the applicant as his parent.

Attention! To resolve the issue, it is necessary to go to court. Only this body is allowed to examine issues of establishing paternity in controversial situations.

Instead of help - only problems

A woman must understand that if a voluntary recognition of paternity is not received from a man, and this issue is resolved in certain instances, and even a positive decision is made for her and the child, a negligent father will not love the baby. He can only cause him a lot of problems later. For example, such a “caring” father may get “lost”, and if the child needs to go abroad, he will have to look for his father, because he gives permission to leave. Therefore, the mother needs to think carefully about what possible consequences may happen after the struggle she has begun.

A mother who files such a claim will have to collect evidence, which will later be used in court to prove her case. Acquaintances, neighbors or colleagues will come up, that is, all those who can confirm that the parents lived together and ran a common household.

Legal services for judicial establishment of paternity for obtaining alimony

DNA testing to establish paternity is one of the most popular tests in specialized laboratories today. Despite the fairly decent cost of the procedure, many people order it in order to verify their relationship with children or, conversely, to prove the absence of family ties with them.

The definition of this right belongs to a special category of cases that the lawyers of the Law Firm of Attorney Goloveshkin have to deal with almost weekly. Both fathers and mothers of children seek legal assistance on this issue. The first want to make sure that the child was born from them in order to receive full rights and fulfill the corresponding duties in relation to their son or daughter, or vice versa - they want to challenge if there is even the slightest suspicion about the infidelity of their wife/companion/girlfriend, in order to remove themselves from responsibility for paying alimony.

Women often decide to establish paternity in court with the help of a lawyer in order to be able to file a claim for child support.

Call by phone and your rights will be protected at the highest professional level and in the shortest possible time

Parental rights arise upon the birth of a child, about which a corresponding entry is made in the civil register. To do this, parents must submit data from the maternity hospital to the registry office, where a birth certificate will be issued in the name of the newborn.

The fact of the origin of children, as well as their belonging to the mother, is certified by the following documents:

A certificate from the maternity ward where the delivery took place.
A certificate from the attending physician (obstetrician-gynecologist) who saw the pregnant woman during the entire pregnancy or whom she contacted after childbirth.
A certificate from the private clinic where the delivery took place.
In the case of a home birth, a statement must be written from a person who was present with the woman in labor at the time of birth, saw the process and can confirm the origin of the child.

The child's father is the person with whom the mother is officially married. The basis is a marriage certificate. This is a kind of presumption according to which the child is automatically “assigned” to the mother’s husband even if at the time of his birth, the parents were already divorced (no more than three hundred days after the official divorce), the marriage was declared invalid, or the death of the husband-father occurred during the woman’s pregnancy child. Being in an official marital relationship is sufficient grounds for the court to recognize a man as the father, even unilaterally at the request of the mother.

Cost of a lawyer's services to establish and challenge paternity

Consultation of individuals without time limit
Drawing up a statement of claim
Participation in court hearings
Pre-trial resolution of family disputes
Participation of a lawyer in negotiations
Establishing or challenging paternity in court
Adoption of children in court
Disputes with guardianship, trusteeship and patronage authorities

1 000 ₽
from 6,000 ₽
from 8,000 ₽
from 7,000 ₽
from 4,000 ₽
from 35,000 ₽
from 25,000 ₽
from 45,000 ₽

Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity

A man who is not officially married to the woman who gave birth to their common child can recognize his paternity either voluntarily or be established by a court. In some cases, paternity is formalized even after the man passes away. As a rule, this happens in cases where questions of inheritance are raised. It is clear that in such a situation, voluntary establishment and recognition of the baby’s paternity is no longer possible, so a slightly different procedure will be required here.

If a baby is born out of wedlock, paternity registration in relation to him is carried out with the consent of the mother or the guardianship authorities. This very concept - “recognition of paternity” - is a legally significant action, because it means a legal entry about the father in the baby’s documents and in the registry office book.

Option 2. Father’s appeal with permission from the guardianship department

However, applying to the registry office to establish a relationship is possible not only with the consent of the mother. The law establishes a number of grounds when a father can file an application on his own.

The rules provide for the possibility of treatment without the participation of the mother if the woman:

wanted;
declared missing;
deprived of maternal rights;
deprived of legal capacity;
died.

In such a situation, the man must first obtain the consent of the guardianship department. Since the presence of a father in such a situation is in the interests of the child, the guardianship department rarely refuses. The exception is the situation when a man has been released from prison.

If a negative decision is received from the guardianship department, the father can establish a relationship in court.

Obtaining guardianship consent

To obtain permission, a citizen must contact the guardianship department located at the place of registration of the child. If at the time of application the minor is already recognized as a child without parental care, then you can submit documents to the department at the place of identification.

The citizen must submit:

personal passport;
children's documents;
consent of the child (if he has reached 10 years of age);
statement;
document confirming the absence of the mother.

The procedure for issuing permission varies depending on the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, since guardianship issues are transferred by the state to the jurisdiction of the regions.

Depending on the place of application, you may additionally request:

an extract from the house register;
criminal record information;
health certificate;
characteristics from the place of work;
information about income.

The permit is issued free of charge. Depending on the region of application, the document can be issued either by direct application to the guardianship department or through the MFC. This question needs to be clarified individually.

The application review period ranges from 14 to 30 days. The answer is given in writing.

Documents in the registry office

When applying to the registry office, you must submit the following documentation:

father's personal passport;
statement;
decision of the guardianship department;
children's documents;
consent of the child (over 10 years of age);
receipt of payment of the duty;
documents about the mother's absence.

What documents are needed as data on the reasons for filing an application without a mother:

court decision on deprivation of legal capacity;
court decision on deprivation of maternal rights;
search certificate;
court decision to declare her missing;
death document.

The court decision is submitted in the form of an original, a copy (made by the court office) or an extract from the court decision.

The registry office takes the guardianship permit in the form of the original. The remaining documents are returned to the applicant.

Will the father confess?

If the marriage between the parents is registered, then the father is entered automatically upon the application of the mother. If the parents are in a civil marriage, the father is registered on a joint application. If one of the parents refuses such a statement, then in some special cases the paternity of the toddler is established by the court.

Today, voluntary recognition of paternity is a fairly common procedure for those spouses who do not want to register their marriage in a legal, customary manner. Children who are born in such a marriage have rights and obligations in relation to their parents and immediate relatives exactly the same as children born in a marriage registered in the registry office.

If the father has already been included in the birth certificate (the basis is a marriage or paternity certificate), then this entry can be changed (that is, paternity can be challenged) in court. There is no time limit for recognizing paternity from a legal point of view. You can register a man as the child’s father, both during the mother’s pregnancy and after the birth of the baby, and even after the child has turned 18 or over (in this case, with his consent).

How to establish paternity if the marriage is not registered

None of the relationship options restricts the father’s right to voluntarily acknowledge paternity.

The best way to officially confirm that a man is the father of a child is to obtain his consent.

The registry office at the place of residence of either parent will accept the application and confirm the applicant’s status.

When an agreement cannot be reached, the opportunity to confirm paternity is provided based on a court decision.

Through the court

The courts may be contacted by:

a mother to recognize a specific person as the father of her child if that person shirks his responsibilities;
the father, when the mother, the guardianship authorities prevent the registration authorities from making an entry;
guardian who is responsible for the minor;
child turning 18 years old.

During the trial, any evidence certifying the relationship is accepted and taken into account (Article 55 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).

To appeal to the court on this issue you need:

prepare a statement of claim;
provide a birth certificate;
pay the mandatory tax;
take care of the evidence.

The court will schedule hearings, hold meetings, and consider evidence.

At the request of the plaintiff, a genetic examination may be carried out.

Once the claim is satisfied, the court will make a decision. Based on it, the registry office staff will make an entry and issue a certificate.

At the registry office

The procedure for issuing a document at the civil registry office, if there are no disputes, proceeds quite quickly.

Parents:

fill out an application;
provide the required package of documents;
pay the state fee;
receive a certificate in hand on the day of application.

The legislation allows you to submit a corresponding application during pregnancy, when the child is not yet born, if life circumstances recommend starting the process of registering the application in advance. The action will finally end after the child is born (Article 48, paragraph 3, IC).

A citizen claiming paternity rights can independently submit an application on his own behalf to the registry office. The legislator stipulates this possibility in certain situations:

death of mother;
her incapacity;
deprivation of parental rights.

The main points in the discussed procedure

The procedure for recognizing the paternity of a man is of great importance for children who were born in a union that is not officially registered, because the paternal identity in this situation cannot be established only by the fact of their birth.

If the toddler’s dad wants to take an active part in the fate of his baby, if he voluntarily acknowledges paternity outside of marriage, then the necessary personal data of this person will be included in the metric. If the case is diametrically opposite, then the mother will need to go to court.

So, according to Article 48 of the Family Code, the father of a newborn baby is recognized as the husband of the woman - the mother. If the toddler’s parents are divorced, then the ex-husband can be recognized as the father if the baby was born within three hundred days, the countdown of which began from the moment of dissolution of the marital relationship. This applies in cases where the marriage is declared null and void or where the woman's husband has passed away.

If the baby’s parents are in a civil marriage, then, according to Article 48 of the Federal Law “On Civil Status Acts,” they have the right to register the birth of their common child with the registry office.

If he (the father) comes from a completely voluntary recognition of paternity, then in order for registration to take place, the parents must submit a general application containing a request to establish paternity of the newborn baby. This is precisely why voluntary confession is required from the father.

What evidence should I provide?

The plaintiff must prove his relationship in court. The defendant, by law, does not need to justify himself, although he has the right to defend his interests by presenting counterarguments.

How to prove through court that a common-law husband is the biological father of a child? The evidence base can be:

Availability of witnesses. The circle of witnesses is actually quite large. These could be neighbors, acquaintances, relatives, or strangers. Social workers or hospital medical staff can provide the necessary evidence.
Coincidence of surname and patronymic (even according to the mother).
Letters, receipts for receiving various parcels.
Receipts and checks for postal and bank transfers.
Certificate of family composition (if the child and both parents are registered at the same address).
Joint family photos.
Excerpts from the medical record (of the child or parents), the birth history of the woman in labor.
Audio recordings, SMS correspondence, filmed videos - everything that shows the existence of a relationship between parents.

Today, the main evidence is DNA testing. However, it should only be established at the request of the court, since genetic testing done independently is not recognized in court.

How to prove paternity out of wedlock if the father is against DNA? Of course, the defendant may well refuse to perform such an examination, since the evidence may serve as recognition of the fact of relationship.

Although no one has the right to force him, the mother should not be upset - the court will consider other evidentiary facts.

How to submit an application?

If there is a voluntary recognition of paternity from a man, then the registry office, based on the place of residence of the parents who are in a civil marriage, has the right to draw up the necessary documents and issue the baby’s birth certificate.

An act is immediately drawn up, which makes it possible to enter information about the baby’s father. The registry office notifies the social security authority within three days that the documents for the child’s paternity have been completed.

If the father does not recognize the fact of the birth of a child in common with his common-law wife, then his paternity must be established through compulsory legal proceedings (this has already been discussed above). It is here that all the circumstances under which the baby was born will be taken into account.

Establishing paternity in court

How to establish paternity in a civil marriage if the father is against his involvement in the birth of a new life, and therefore refuses to fulfill his duties in every possible way?

In this case, there is only one way out - you need to apply to the court with a petition.

Judicial practice shows that questions most often arise regarding the collection of evidence of kinship and establishment of paternity in the following cases:

If a man does not want to become a father and pay child support obligations, despite recognizing the child as his own.
In case a man does not recognize his relationship, believing that the child is not his daughter or son.
The woman wants to limit the man’s influence on the baby, so she does not give the man the opportunity to communicate with him.

The complexity of the judicial determination directly depends on the existing situation.

How to prove paternity after the death of the father out of wedlock?

In such a situation, recognition of paternity is often necessary for the child to receive an inheritance and to assign pension payments for the loss of a breadwinner.

At the same time, it is no longer possible to conduct a DNA examination . Therefore, consideration of the evidence base and comparison of facts will take place in court.

If a woman dies, then it will be much easier to prove the relationship: you must provide evidence, and also obtain permission from the court to undergo a DNA test. Based on the results made by the laboratory, the court makes a verdict.

Baby's inheritance rights

If the baby’s father has died, then, in accordance with the requirements of Article 50 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the fact of recognition of paternity must be established. A trial will help with this.

If some controversial situations arise that are related to the inheritance, if there are other heirs, then the mother must file a claim with the judicial authority at her place of residence. And already in court proceedings the fact of paternity of the baby will be established. Then the issue of the right to inheritance will be resolved.

Statement of claim to determine paternity

Going to court requires thorough preparation. First of all, it is necessary to correctly draft the application to the court. How to properly file a claim to establish paternity and collect alimony without marriage in court?

In this case, it is worth visiting a lawyer or going to the court at your place of residence to correctly write the claim, following the sample.

The claim must indicate:

Information about all parties involved in the process. This means both the court itself and the applicant and the defendant.
Then you should provide complete information about the child: date and place of birth.
Describe the situation in detail, indicating why it happened that the newborn did not automatically find a legal father.
Provide compelling evidence to prove the relationship.
Make a demand for justice.
List the papers attached to the claim.

What papers should I provide? If you have documents confirming your rights, be sure to attach copies of them to your application:

child's birth certificate;
marriage certificate (if it was previously concluded with the baby’s father);
copy of passport;
father's death certificate;
registration certificate;
certificate 2-NDFL (for mothers who are officially employed);
a check or receipt for payment of the mandatory payment for filing a claim.

The claim must be signed by the applicant and submitted to the secretariat for registration.

If the child is already 18 years old at the time of the hearing, he can file a claim on his own. This is relevant in cases where he claims to receive an inheritance.

Until adulthood, the child’s rights can be defended by the second parent or guardian.

What is the current order?

Recognition of paternity outside of marriage in Russia is voluntarily allowed in the following cases:

Immediately after the baby is born: a joint application is submitted to the territorial registry office from the applicant for paternity of the toddler and, in fact, the mother of the baby, who were not married to each other at the time of his birth (in this case, the man’s paternity will be registered simultaneously with the birth of the baby ).
The child’s mother and father, who acknowledges the fact of his paternity (in the event that they did not register their marriage), submit a joint application - this is if in the child’s birth certificate, which was issued earlier, in the column where there should be information about the father, they put dash. If there is a joint application by the parents for recognition of paternity, then it does not matter whether the mother and father, or one of them, are married to third parties.

Upon application only by the child’s father, who had previously received consent either from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities or by court decision. The possibility of establishing paternity in the registry office, without taking into account the mother’s consent, is possible only in four cases - if the baby’s mother is declared incompetent; if there is no way to establish where the baby’s mother is; if at the time of recognition of paternity the child’s mother died; if at the time of recognition of paternity the mother of the baby has already been deprived of parental rights.

If there is a possibility that paternity will be recognized voluntarily by an adult child, then it should be taken into account that this will only be possible if the adult child himself agrees to this.

Issuance of a certificate

After you have voluntarily applied to the registry office to establish paternity, they issue a certificate. This document confirms your right to have custody of the baby. Take an active part in choosing educational institutions for him, and also see him without hindrance. With the help of this paper, you will be able to confirm your relationship with the baby in any government agency.

To issue a certificate of paternity, you need an application signed by both the father and mother of the baby, but if the certificate was issued on the basis of a court decision, then the application can be submitted by the man’s legal representative by proxy. Signature of the matter in this case is not required.

The procedure can also be carried out remotely - by mail or through the government services website. A claim for the issuance of a certificate can be drawn up in a simple form or you can use a ready-made sample that we have on our website. Your request will be considered as soon as possible. It is important to remind you that for the issuance of a certificate, you are required to pay a state fee; without a receipt for its payment, the application will not be considered.

If you lose the form, which indicates paternity, you, again, need to contact the registry office with a written statement. It will be reviewed for 30 days, after which you will be given a duplicate. A claim for obtaining a certificate must be submitted to the civil registry office at the place of registration of the child’s birth certificate or to the civil registry office that the court specifies in its decision. Based on the paternity certificate, you need to rewrite the child’s birth certificate; you can change not only his patronymic and last name, but, if desired, his first name.

The situation is interesting when a claim is filed with the registry office by people who are not married while carrying a common child. In such a situation, establishing paternity and issuing a birth certificate for the baby will be carried out simultaneously, and you will not have to re-file the claim. The biological father will immediately be included in the birth certificate of the new citizen.

Documents you will need

If there is a possibility that there will be a voluntary recognition of paternity, the documents that must be prepared for submission to the territorial registry office are listed below.

These include:

a general statement from the mother and father to establish paternity, which is drawn up on a special form;
identification documents of the applicant parents;
a child’s birth certificate (after all, as a rule, mother and father apply after the procedure for state registration of the baby’s birth has been carried out);
a payment document, which confirms that the applicants have paid the state fee for establishing paternity;
If the parents decide to carry out the process of establishing paternity in parallel with registering the birth of the baby, then they will need a birth certificate issued by the maternity hospital.

Father's consent

If the father agrees with his involvement in the birth of the child, and he recognizes it, then the procedure does not present any difficulty at all.

In order to recognize a child at will, without coercion, you will need:

Collect a package of necessary documents.
Contact the registry office together with the child’s mother.
Write an application to establish paternity and make the necessary entries in the relevant papers.

The whole procedure is quite unpretentious and simple. At the same time, when applying to the registry office, the mother and father will not need to collect evidence of the existence of a biological relationship between the man and the baby.

To enroll the father in the birth certificate, you must provide the following documents with your application:

Child's birth certificate.
Identification card of both parents.

The application must be written on behalf of the man, filling out the standard application fields: the place of residence of both parents, their passport details, and a signature.

In this application, the common-law husband must indicate his agreement that he is the father of the child born.

In the application, you can indicate what surname the parents want to assign to the child. If it is not specified, then he will be assigned his father's surname.

With the consent of both spouses, he can be given his mother’s surname.

After all formalities are completed, parents will be given a birth certificate of the child, on which the father will be entered.

Perhaps this is the simplest method of establishing paternity without unnecessary bureaucratic formalities, of course, with the exception of official marriage.

Sometimes it happens that a father does not abandon his child, but for some reason he is unable to be present when his common-law wife is discharged from the maternity hospital.

In this case, he can draw up an application for acknowledgment of paternity together with his mother in advance.

If his absence was unplanned, for example, due to an urgent business trip, then there is also a way out in this situation: the father must submit an application through a power of attorney through his legal representatives or fill out the application correctly at a notary office, then certify it and send it by mail to his place of residence child with mother.

If, when issuing a birth certificate, the father was not included in it, then the child automatically takes on the mother’s surname.

Many mothers seek to establish paternity in hopes of receiving child support.

At the same time, they should take into account that alimony is calculated in the amount of 25% of the real salary of the child’s father, if the latter does not have other children in his care. If the father is unemployed, then alimony is assigned in a fixed amount.

If the child’s paternity is established, then his mother will not be considered a single mother, even if the father begins to evade paying child support.

Consequently, a woman who has established paternity in court will no longer have the benefits of a single mother.

At the same time, establishing paternity can be of great benefit for the child if the father receives a high salary - accordingly, the amount of alimony will also be high.

In addition, if the established father has property, then the child can count on receiving an inheritance after him (of course, if the property is preserved and is not bequeathed to other persons).

It is worth noting that in the case of a civil marriage and unestablished paternity, the child is deprived of both his father and paternal grandparents.

This means that they will not be able to leave an inheritance to their grandson, and the child has no right to claim it.