Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky
My wife and I live in Kentucky. She is pregnant and I may not be the father. The possible father wants nothing to do with the child. We do not want child support. I want to sign the birth certificate.Is this legal?
3 Answers from Attorneys
The Kentucky Supreme Court has just issued new law on this topic. Previously, a child born within a marriage is presumed to be the husband's child, and the real biological father had no standing to seek parental rights, unless either the husband or wife opened the door to it by disputing paternity.
Because of this, you are probably better off retaining the services of a good family law attorney to address this issue. When new law comes out, it takes some time to find out how it will develop, and what the lower courts will do with it. A year ago, my advice would have been, don't worry, do nothing, but now, you want to be certain the biological father doesn't have a change of heart once the baby is born and seek parental rights.
As for the birth certificate, it's actually quite meaningless what father is listed, because that is not a determinant of paternity. You have a presumption of paternity being the husband, but ultimately a DNA test may prove that wrong.
Yes, you are presumed to be the father of the child since you are married. So, you can be on the birth certificate. Legally, you are the father unless another man challenges paternity and successfully shows that he is the biological father.