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I'm sure this would be better served with a lawyer but I am curious to know if anyone has ever heard of anything like this before, as it's happened to someone I know:
Child was born in 2002. Parents NOT married. Mother listed father on birth certificate at time of birth. Father never contested this. Child was given mom's last name as a surname.
Father never paid child support first 2 years, child lived with mom, when child was around 2, mom applied for medicaid for the kid, thus the the Attorney General of Texas got involved and established a child support order (2004). Father agreed to support terms, in person, at a meeting at AG's office. At the time, father requested that the child's name be changed on birth certificate to reflect his, with a hyphenated version of the 2 last names. Mother agreed and this was supposed to take effect.
Fast forward over 4 years, father has not seen child or paid child support in 3 of those years. Mom discovers she has misplaced copy of birth certificate (certified, not hospital copy), school needs it, so she goes downtown to get a new copy. New copy says "UNKNOWN" in space for father!? All other info is correct!
Any wild guesses on how this could have happened, and what it means, if anything?
The only way that should be able to happen is with a court order after the father is determined to NOT be the father. I can't imagine the mother would not have been notified if that had happened, however.
Otherwise, I'd bet it's a data entry mistake or a computer foul up.
I don't know about now days but it use to be the father HAD to sign the birth cetificate or his name would not be on it. It probably isn't there because he didn't sign it.
If you are not married the father must sign a paternity affidavit. Mothers don't just get to list a man as the father and have it be so, they could list anyone. And having a verbal agreement from the man is not suffcient either cause he can change his mind.
I'm sure this would be better served with a lawyer but I am curious to know if anyone has ever heard of anything like this before, as it's happened to someone I know:
Child was born in 2002. Parents NOT married. Mother listed father on birth certificate at time of birth. Father never contested this. Child was given mom's last name as a surname.
Father never paid child support first 2 years, child lived with mom, when child was around 2, mom applied for medicaid for the kid, thus the the Attorney General of Texas got involved and established a child support order (2004). Father agreed to support terms, in person, at a meeting at AG's office. At the time, father requested that the child's name be changed on birth certificate to reflect his, with a hyphenated version of the 2 last names. Mother agreed and this was supposed to take effect.
Fast forward over 4 years, father has not seen child or paid child support in 3 of those years. Mom discovers she has misplaced copy of birth certificate (certified, not hospital copy), school needs it, so she goes downtown to get a new copy. New copy says "UNKNOWN" in space for father!? All other info is correct!
Any wild guesses on how this could have happened, and what it means, if anything?
Where I live, the father (if unmarried to the mother) had to sign an affidavit of paternity or else they weren't allowed to be on the birth certificate. Maybe a paperwork glitch caused the problem?
If you are not married the father must sign a paternity affidavit. Mothers don't just get to list a man as the father and have it be so, they could list anyone. And having a verbal agreement from the man is not suffcient either cause he can change his mind.
It means the child does not have a legal father.
I can't believe there wasn't a court determination of paternity already. You don't get a child support order (like here in 2004, by agreement with the AG's office) without the court also finding paternity.
Take that court order back into court, under the case number you already have, and ask for an order correcting the birth certificate.
I didn't clarify or provide enough information in my original post. My apologies. I also have a bit more details.
When the child was born, mom is not sure if the father signed the birth certificate or not. He was there at the birth and she listed him as the father, seems logical he would have signed, but she doesn't remember.
At the child support meeting at the AG's office, he DID sign a paper acknowledging paternity, she is sure of that.
A previous certified copy of the birth certificate (obtained from the vital statistics office AFTER the child support order was issued) reflected him as the father and also showed the name change he'd requested (the hyphenation). The one showing "father unspecified (or unknown, whichever)" was obtained in the past few months, after 3 years of him not paying support or being in touch, but without any action being taken by mom in that time.
It must just be a data entry screwup or something but she was perplexed nonetheless!
In 2002, in Florida, only ONE parent got to sign the birth certificate application - state law. I know- that's where and when my daughter was born. (You don't fill out the bc at the hospital, you fill out an application. In Florida, they review it to make sure you're not trying to name your child something unacceptable - such as a number, or Beezlebub, or whatever-, then you fill out a form to get a certified copy about 3-4 months later.)
California (in 1999) had the same law. As we were married, I was allowed to just list my dh, but to make sure all our bases were covered, he filled out the paperwork with the nurses and signed both applications for a birth certificate.
In both states, it was explained to us at the time we were handed the application for a birth certificate that if the parents are not married, the father cannot be listed. (IL also had this law as early as 1992, again, personal experience)
If the original BC had the father listed, and then 3 years later he is not listed, than someone had to go in and change the info. That is not just a mistake. The mother needs to go to the AG and find out where the paternity affidavit signature is and get his name put back on the BC. Someone screwed up somewhere. And until it is fixed, the child does not have a legal father.
I would thinki that in the child suppopt documents she had to sing that to the best of her knowledge the named person was the father.That would make it either fraud or purjery IMO.
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