Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

Father rights

My friend has become pregnant after a brief (2 month) consentual relationship with a medical student. She has ''decided'' not to inform the father that she is pregnant as she does not want him to ''interfere'' with her decisions pertaining to the raising of this child. My friend is not married & does not desire any financial support from the babies father. She plans to refuse to identify the fathers name for the birth certificate. Does my friend have a leagal obligation to inform the father? If the father learns of the baby at some later point, does he have legal backing to sue her for defrauding him of his parental rights?


Asked on 12/30/04, 11:05 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Stern William Stern, P.C.

Re: Father rights

The problem will be that your friend will be filling in the birth certificate with phoney information indicating that the father is unknown when in fact the father is known. If the father subsequently finds out about it, he certainly may be able to assert rights to visitation. I have never heard of a suit against the mother for not informing the father but it surely is possible. Also, she may have problems down the road for filing a phoney document. Bill Stern 248-353-9400

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Answered on 12/30/04, 3:05 pm


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