What's happening
This bill allows the putative father's name to be added to a birth certificate if known and permits contesting paternity, with new certificates issued if paternity is disproven.
Why it matters
Expands the ability to name the putative father on a birth certificate even without a formal acknowledgment or court order, potentially making it easier for children born out of wedlock to have both parents identified from birth.
Allows a person named as the father on a child’s birth certificate to legally challenge (contest) paternity, which can help prevent situations where someone is incorrectly or unfairly listed as a parent.
Ensures that if paternity is disproven, a new birth certificate will be issued without the wrongly named person, which can have major implications for parental rights, child support, inheritance, and the child’s identity.
May affect legal, financial, and emotional aspects for families by clarifying and correcting official parental records more efficiently, impacting access to social services, custody, and other legal rights.
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Who cares
Headline styles
List Fathers on Birth Certificates
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4218
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 1, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. PERRY -read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to birth certificates
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 4135 of the public health law, as amended by chapter 398 of the laws of 1997, is amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows:
2. The name, if known, of the putative father of a child born out of wedlock shall [not] be entered on the certificate of birth [prior to filing without (i) an acknowledgment of paternity pursuant to section one hundred eleven-k of the social services law or section four thousand one hundred thirty-five-b of this article executed by both the mother and putative father, and filed with the record of birth; or (ii) notification having been received by, or proper proof having been filed with, the record of birth by the clerk of a court of competent jurisdiction or the parents, or their attorneys of a judgment, order or decree relating to parentage].
4. A father listed on a child's birth certificate may contest the paternity of such child pursuant to section one hundred eleven-k of the social services law. Upon adjudication that such person listed on the child's birth certificate is not the father, a new birth certificate shall be issued pursuant to subdivision one of section four thousand one hundred thirty-eight of this article without such person's name.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08411-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.