What are the benefits of establishing paternity?
Establishing paternity carries numerous advantages for both parents and the child: • financial assistance from child support collections • access to medical insurance benefits and other legal entitlements such as Social Security benefits, disability benefits, inheritance and pension and veterans’ benefits • providing the child with a sense of identity and family heritage • strengthens the social and psychological bonds between a father and his child.
Legally establishing a man as the father of a child can help provide emotional, social and economic ties between a father and his child, and can ensure that the child receives the same rights and privileges as all children. These include inheritance rights, access to the father’s medical and life insurance benefits and to Social Security and veterans’ benefits. The child also has a chance to develop a relationship with the father, and to develop a sense of identity and connection to the father’s family. It also may be important for the child’s health for doctors to know the father’s medical history, especially if there is a history of medical conditions in the father’s family. How can the child support agency help establish paternity? Either the mother or the father may complete an application for services and a paternity affidavit. If the father isn’t willing to sign a voluntary paternity affidavit, the agency may order DNA testing to prove fatherhood. And if the father lives outside
Legally establishing a man as the father of a child can help provide emotional, social and economic ties between a father and his child, and can ensure that the child receives the same rights and privileges as all children. These include inheritance rights, access to the father’s medical and life insurance benefits and to Social Security and veterans’ benefits. The child also has a chance to develop a relationship with the father, and to develop a sense of identity and connection to the fathers family. It also may be important for the childs health for doctors to know the father’s medical history, especially if there is a history of medical conditions in the fathers family.
A. Paternity establishment can provide basic emotional, social and economic ties between a father and his child. Once paternity is established legally, a child gains legal rights and privileges. Among these may be rights to inheritance, rights to the father’s medical and life insurance benefits, social security and possibly veteran’s benefits. The child also has a chance to develop a relationship with the father, and to develop a sense of identity and connection to the “other half” of his or her family. Q. What will the enforcement caseworker need to know to try to establish paternity? A. The caseworker needs as much information as you can give about the alleged father and the facts about your relationship with him, your pregnancy, and the birth of your child. Some of these questions may be personal. States must keep the information that you give confidential. Q. What if he denies he is the father, or he’s not sure? A. Paternity can be determined by the evidence presented in court, inc
