What rights does the biological father have if his name is not on the birth certificate?

It’s me*: What rights does the biological father have if his name is not on the birth certificate?
I live in MN and recently gave birth to a little boy. I don’t want the biological father to have anything to do with my little boy, and my partner I’ve been with wants to adopt him and he is listed on the birth certificate because we thought he was the bio father until the paternity test came back. What rights does the biological father have in seeing my son if he isn’t listed on the birth certificate?

Answers and Views:

Answer by hotwheels122287
listed or not he has rights as being the bio father.. if you dont want him to be near your child, file for full custody

Answer by Common Sense
None. The listed father has parental rights. You’ll have to petition the court to correct it.

Answer by MsMc
Laws differ from state to state. The best thing to do is get legal counsel. Most attorneys will sit and discuss your issue free of charge for a one time visit.

Answer by Willie
the only way you can do it by the book is get a lawyer and have send a letter to the real father asking him to give up his rights if not you will come after him far child support and half the hospital bill when you tell them they will be paying for the next 18 years and give them a way out most will take it

Answer by firewomen
laws differ but as the biological father he can petition the court to see his child. Did he even know he had a child?. As I read your question he did not have a choice about his name not being on the birth certificate. You should be able to petition the court for support.*

Answer by Elana
The father’s name on the birth certificate only shifts the presumption of paternity. That is, if nobody challenges it, it is assumed that the name on the birth certificate is real.

Therefore, as a matter of practicality, he has no rights if he doesn’t request them. He would have to prove his paternity before he was able to pursue any other action.

However, if he successfully proves that he is the father and that you knew he was the father, you are now obviously guilty of misfiling state records. That is, you lied to the state.

If he chose to do that, then legally it would be an almost level playing field (you and he would have equal rights) with issues of fact swaying things one way or the other. One issue of fact is that you lied to the state on the birth certificate. Another issue of fact is that you have already gone through whatever work is required to bring the child to this point. The fact that he wasn’t their to help you is not relevant unless it can be shown that he knew about the kid and didn’t try.

For better or for worse, judges are notorious for believing mothers over fathers in such cases, but you should not assume that to be true.

Be prepared to show that you would be a better parent (which really means that he would be a worse parent).

And of course, this works both ways. If he can prove that you are probably going to be a bad parent (and remember, its already a court record that you lied to the state), he may be in a good position to take custody away from you.

So my first word of advice is: Stop lying to the state!

If he volunteers to give up his parental rights (in writing), then it is a relatively simple matter to have this other person adopt him taking over full parental rights.

In any case, get a lawyer. You started this thing out with a lie and you need to realize that isn’t a good place to start!

Answer by Mike
Here’s what could happen–IF he can get a judge to believe that you withheld information from him about him being a father, that judge is gonna kick your ass. Courts assume that the biological parents are the best ones to raise a child. If you have received free government sponsored prenatal care or insurance for your baby, or public aid, the judge could find that you conspired to cheat the government out of their money because it could have theoretically been recovered from the biological father. Not listing the father on the birth certificate is further “proof” that you have attempted to “rob” him of his parental rights. That’s the way it is right now, and laws are constantly changing to ensure that children are cared for prmarily by the biological parents. If your partner wants to adopt him, that will involve you and them making statements concerning the biological father. If you both lie, you could both be found guilty of conspiracy to defraud; on top of conspiracy to file a false government document. If you’re caught doing that, the biological father will basically be handed a slam dunk order of custody; should he want it. If you want a worry free future, you must contact the father during the adoption process. Threaten him with back child support. Claim you did contact him and he blew you off.