Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
Legitimacy
If a child is born out of wedlock and the parents marry at a later date:
A. Is the child still considered to be illegitimate?
B. If the father's name isn't on the birth certificate but they bear the same last name does the marriage validate paternity?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Legitimacy
In times past, an illegitimate child became legitimate upon the marriage of the mother and the reputed father. Today in Illinois, under the Parentage Act of 1984 (the Act), such a marriage does not establish the paternity of a child born before the marriage. Having the same last name doesn�t establish paternity and never did.
The Act provides that a man is presumed to be the father if �after the child's birth, he and the child's natural mother have married each other, . . . and he is named, with his written consent, as the child's father on the child's birth certificate.�
Since the father is not named on the birth certificate, you should obtain a written acknowledgement. Paternity may be established voluntarily �by the signing and witnessing of a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage in accordance with Section 12 of the Vital Records Act� See your local county clerk or registrar to obtain the proper form.
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