# Legal Question Regarding Paternity in Florida **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215 "2012-09-19T21:54:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CornTheHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@CornTheHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CornTheHead)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/1 "2012-09-19T21:54:54Z")
Okay, here is the situation - My girlfriend and I had a baby boy in February of 2012. She was married at the time, however, legally separated and the divorce was pending. Because of this, she was not able to list me as the father on the birth certificate (she left it as “unknown”) Her divorce is becoming final in a few days and she and I would like to add me as the father on the BC. Everything that I have been reading makes me believe that this is not legally possible. That thought really breaks my heart. Question is - is it legally possible to add me as the father, and secondly, how would not be listed on the birth certificate affect me and my future rights/responsibilities to our son? Any help? **please move this if it is in the wrong section. I am still a SDMB newbie** ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/2 "2012-09-19T22:06:38Z")
I know practically nothing about the law in Florida, but would it be possible for you to adopt the boy? And would that solve your issues about rights and responsibilities? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/3 "2012-09-19T22:36:08Z")
> [@CornTheHead](#): > > She was married at the time, however, legally separated and the divorce was pending. Because of this, she was not able to list me as the father on the birth certificate (she left it as “unknown”) This part sounds a little fishy. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/4 "2012-09-19T23:02:29Z")
We prefer that real-life legal and medical questions be put in IMHO rather than General Questions. There you can get opinions, some of which are factual, some fanciful. We prefer that General Questions be left for places where all the answers are factual(if possible). **samclem** , Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/5 "2012-09-19T23:19:58Z")
I am not in Florida, nor am I licensed in Florida, however, it appears she is in the process of perpetrating a fraud upon the Court by representing your son as a child of the marriage. Couple of ways you may be able to deal with it… 1. Contact the husband and/or the husband’s lawyer if he has one, and assert paternity. Doing this may derail the divorce while paternity testing is done. 2. File a paternity suit yourself, naming the girl and her current husband as defendants. I don’t know if Florida allows a non-party to rebut the presumption that a child born in wedlock is legitimate or not. You need to check with an attorney licensed in Florida to confirm. I do know that if you do nothing, you have no rights or obligations to the child under the law. You’re a non-entity so far as the child is concerned. The husband will either have custody or be paying support and exercising visitation with your child. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/6 "2012-09-20T15:41:42Z")
I’m not a lawyer, but a quick internet search reveals that a father in Florida can file this form with the court entitled “mother of child married to someone else at time of child’s conception and/or birth” as part of the “establishing paternity” court package. It looks like it is specific to Hillsborough County, but there must be a like form for the other counties. [http://www.fljud13.org/Portals/0/Forms/pdfs/family/packet35.pdf](http://www.fljud13.org/Portals/0/Forms/pdfs/family/packet35.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![CornTheHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@CornTheHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CornTheHead)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/7 "2012-09-20T15:50:39Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I am not in Florida, nor am I licensed in Florida, however, it appears she is in the process of perpetrating a fraud upon the Court by representing your son as a child of the marriage. Couple of ways you may be able to deal with it… The mother is not trying to represent the child as her husbands, quite the opposite. She is trying everything to get me listed as the father. We are together in a very happy relationship and just trying to take care of everything. Thank you for the info, however, everything helps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CornTheHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@CornTheHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CornTheHead)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/8 "2012-09-20T15:51:59Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > I’m not a lawyer, but a quick internet search reveals that a father in Florida can file this form with the court entitled “mother of child married to someone else at time of child’s conception and/or birth” as part of the “establishing paternity” court package. > > It looks like it is specific to Hillsborough County, but there must be a like form for the other counties. > > [http://www.fljud13.org/Portals/0/Forms/pdfs/family/packet35.pdf](http://www.fljud13.org/Portals/0/Forms/pdfs/family/packet35.pdf) That is EXACTLY what I am looking for! Thank you. Too bad I am not in Hillsborough County though ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/9 "2012-09-20T18:21:19Z")
If all else fails, you can legally adopt your son. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/10 "2012-09-20T19:02:11Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I am not in Florida, nor am I licensed in Florida, however, it appears she is in the process of perpetrating a fraud upon the Court by representing your son as a child of the marriage. I’m curious about how this is so, since the OP specifically said she left the father of the child as “unknown” on the certificate. How does that translate to her claiming the child was a product of the marriage? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/11 "2012-09-20T19:16:51Z")
Asimovian: > [@](#): > > I’m curious about how this is so, since the OP specifically said she left the father of the child as “unknown” on the certificate. How does that translate to her claiming the child was a product of the marriage? I’m guessing that Oakminster suspects the girlfriend is now (not originally) trying to get paternity established as the husband’s for the sake of child support money in the divorce proceedings, and is lying to the OP about there being no way to put his name on the birth certificate as the father. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/12 "2012-09-20T20:20:23Z")
Legally, her husband is the father of the child. You need to go to court and obtain an order that declares him _not_ the legal father and stating you are. Blood tests may be ordered. Once you have the order, you can get the birth certificate amended. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/13 "2012-09-20T20:35:17Z")
Here’s an interesting Florida State Supreme Court case regarding paternity from 2005: [http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/sc04-1045/04-1045rep.pdf](http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/sc04-1045/04-1045rep.pdf) > [@](#): > > [w]hen a child is born during a marriage, the legal duty to support that child presumptively rest with the parties to the marriage. > > * * * > > This other presumption is that a child born during wedlock is presumed to be the child of the husband. > > * * * > > Therefore, if it is shown that the child born during wedlock is not the biological child of the husband, DOR (Department of Revenue) contends that the presumption of the legal duty of support is overcome. > > * * * > > A person has no legal duty to provide support for a minor child who is neither his natural nor his adopted child and for whose care and support he has not contracted. Also, it sounds like the OP’s girlfriend could have allowed the boyfriend to be listed on the childs Birth Certificate: [http://floridadivorcelaw.com/paternity.html](http://floridadivorcelaw.com/paternity.html) > [@](#): > > A Claim of Paternity may be filed at any time prior to the child’s birth BUT a claim of paternity may not be filed after the date a petition is filed for termination of parental rights. A Petition for Termination of Parental Rights is usually filed as part of an Adoption proceeding. Therefore, the only way to ensure that your unborn child is not put up for adoption by the Mother is to register with the State of Florida’s Putative Father Registry. > > The child’s birth record is not impacted by the Father’s registration, and \*\*if the father wishes to be listed on the birth record as father, he must have the mother’s agreement \*\*or seek an order from a court. There are statutory provisions for voluntary paternity acknowledgment by both parents. > A man is presumed to be the biological father if: > > •The minor was conceived or born while the father was married to the mother; > •The minor is his child by adoption; > •The minor had been established by court proceeding to be his child; > •He has filed an affidavit of paternity by acknowledging paternity in conjunction with the child’s mother at the hospital at the time of child’s birth or by subsequently filing an acknowledgement of paternity in conjunction with the child’s mother with the State Office of Vital Statistics both of which constitutes the establishment of paternity as provided for in section 742.10, Florida Statutes. (in other words, if he signs the birth certificate!) Sounds like under Florida law, the OP’s girlfriend’s husband is presumed to be the father under the eyes of the state, even if he didn’t sign or is listed on the birth certificate. In order for the OP to be listed as the father, the other guy, is going to have to legally give up his parental rights, and then the OP is going to have to legally adopt his own son. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/14 "2012-09-20T20:38:55Z")
:dubious: > [@CornTheHead](#): > > I am still a SDMB newbie Join Date: Apr 2008 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-regarding-paternity-in-florida/635215/15 "2012-09-21T08:00:31Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > :dubious: > > Join Date: Apr 2008 Number of Posts: 50.