Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Is it my baby? Right now, legally, yes.

YOUR QUESTION:

My friend�s ex girlfriend just had a baby. He signed the birth certificate as the father. Even she knows the baby might not be his but when he asks her to have the baby tested he doesn't hear from her. He's very discouraged and wants this baby in his life but he doesn't know where to start. He doesn't want to take the baby. He wants to know if it's his.

ANSWER:

When you say your friend �signed the birth certificate as the father,� I assume that what he actually signed was a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form (which also calls for the mother�s signature as well). Under Oregon law, when this form is signed by both parties and filed with Oregon Vital Records (the state office that issues birth certificates), it establishes the man�s paternity of the child �for all purposes.� See ORS 109.070(1)(e). Vital Records then issues a birth certificate (or amends an existing certificate) showing the man�s name as being the child�s father.

Assuming that this what happened in your friend�s case, then your friend is right now the child�s legal father. If the mother is denying him access to the child, your friend�s recourse is to file a lawsuit against the mother under ORS 109.103.

Under ORS 109.103: �If a child is born out of wedlock and paternity has been established, either parent may initiate a civil proceeding to determine the custody or support of the child. The proceeding shall be brought in the circuit court of the county in which the child resides or is found or in the circuit court of the county in which either parent resides. The parents shall have the same rights and responsibilities regarding the custody and support of their child that married or divorced parents would have, and the provisions of ORS 107.095 to 107.425 that relate to the custody or support of children shall be applicable to the proceeding.�

As to now doing blood tests, it depends on how long ago your friend signed the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form. Under Oregon law, ORS 109.070(2)(c), if legal paternity was established by the signing and filing of a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form without genetic parentage tests having been previously completed, then either party may, no later than one year after a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form has been filed, apply to the court for an order requiring that the parties and the child submit to genetic parentage tests.

LAWRENCE D. GORIN

http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html

Law Offices of L.D. Gorin

521 S.W. Clay St., Suite 205

Portland, Oregon 97201

Phone: 503-224-8884 (afternoons, Pacific time)

Fax: 503-226-1321

E-mail: [email protected]