Proving paternity for unmarried fathers

The state of Ohio assumes that the mother is in the best interest of the child, as it gives sole residential and custody status to the mother when a child is born.  Therefore, in the state of Ohio, you have to "establish a parent and child relationship" with your newborn son or daughter and ask for your rights as an unmarried father.  Yes, it is weird... nice of the state to say that you have to prove that you and your child have a relationship, but is nonetheless the truth.  In order to realize any privilege first, paternity must be determined.  This page will discuss how you can accomplish this task.

There a few ways to establish this relationship: One is to sign what is called an Acknowledgment of paternity affidavit.  This form is signed by the mother and a man who is "suspected to be the father".  The Ohio Revised Code uses a few phrases for a man in this position and they are: putative father, suspected father, reasonably suspected man.

A mother and suspected father may sign this affidavit in the hospital when the baby is born, or even at a later time. If the man was not there to sign, no problem, because the Ohio Revised Code actually provides for this: "both the natural father and the mother of the child are required to sign the statement, that they may sign the statement without being in each other’s presence, and that the signatures must be notarized;" (section 3111.31(A) O.R.C.). 

Once a man and a mother sign the affidavit, a parent and child relationship exists between that man and the child, or as the Ohio Revised Code says: "the child is the child of the man who signed the acknowledgment of paternity, as though born to him in lawful wedlock." (Section 3111.26 O.R.C.).

You are not out of the woods yet.  That relationship does not entitle you to any custodial rights, to be a residential parent or spend any time with your child.  You, at that point, only have the right to do a few things: file a complaint with a local court for the allocution of parental rights and responsibilities (custody), ask the court for time with your child, as well as have the right to pay child support.

Another way to establish a parent and child relationship with your child is genetic (DNA) testing.  Testing is court ordered and generally handled by the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) and the cost of testing will be paid for by the parents, unless the parents are indigent, which in that case, CSEA can use separate funds to pay for it, according to (section 3111.09 O.R.C).  Once the test results are back, a determination is made by the court, insofar as paternity is concerned.