Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment Angie Saleeby

Vital Records Operations Manager PHSIS

Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity Program

Hospitals must establish an in-hospital paternity acknowledgment program based on the program developed by DHEC, DSS and SCHA according to SC Code of Law 44-7-77.

Determining Marital Status

SC Regulation 61-19 Section 8(f) states if the mother was married either at time of conception or birth, or anytime between conception and birth, the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child. The husband is considered to be the legal father and should be listed on the birth certificate.

Requirements to Complete Paternity Acknowledgment

In order to complete a paternity acknowledgment, the mother’s marital status MUST BE: Divorced/Widowed (must include accurate date)

OR Not Married Anytime between Conception and Birth of Child

Witness Statement on Paternity Acknowledgment

SC Code of Law Section 63-17-60 (A) (4) A verified voluntary acknowledgment must be made by a sworn document, signed by the person acknowledging paternity and witnessed by 1) that person’s attorney, parent, or guardian or 2) a person eighteen years of age or older who is not related to the child and not employed or acting under authority of Department of Social Services.

Witness Statement Continued…

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The witness must attach to the acknowledgment a written certification which specifies that prior to signing the acknowledgment , the provisions of the acknowledgment were discussed with the person acknowledging paternity and that based upon this discussion, it is the witness’ opinion that the acknowledgment is being given voluntarily and that is it not being obtained under duress or through coercion.

Witness Statement Continued…

“I certify that prior to signing this Paternity Acknowledgment, . . . “ Date signed by witness CANNOT be after the date notarized. It is the responsibility of the witness to ensure the father has been given a copy of the rights and responsibilities to read before he signs the Paternity Acknowledgment.

ID Requirements

Before any signing can take place, the notary must require the personal appearance of the signer and current/valid government issued identification from the signer.

This can be in the form of: – A valid driver’s license; – A valid state identification; – A valid military identification card; – A valid passport; – A valid school ID – must have an expiration date or

current school year date

Name Verification

Names entered on Paternity Acknowledgments should match what is listed on the identification presented by parents. Pay close attention to those with double surnames and nicknames.

If parents are not able to complete a paternity acknowledgment in the hospital, they can go to the nearest Regional Vital Records Office or the State Vital Statistics Office.

Inform parents fees are as follows: $12.00 search fee (includes 1 certified copy) $15.00 amendment fee to process the

Paternity Acknowledgment

If the father is deceased, a paternity

acknowledgment cannot be completed. Paternity must be determined by a court of

competent jurisdiction.

Completion of Paternity Acknowledgment

The WebBirth system allows you to print a paternity acknowledgment from the birth record.

This will cut down on a significant number of

errors. If changes are made in the birth system after the

paternity acknowledgment form is printed, you must print the form again to ensure the correct information is on the form.

Manual Paternity Acknowledgment

If it is necessary to complete a manual/handwritten paternity acknowledgment, VERIFY that all information is CORRECT and EXACTLY THE SAME as the information on the birth record.

ONLY use the handwritten paternity form when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Sometimes parents place of birth does not print correctly due to a system issue. In these cases, a form should be completed manually.

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DO NOT ALLOW the parents to complete the information on the paternity.

The Birth Analyst needs to complete this

information, then have the parents verify that information.

Legal Surname vs. Maiden Surname

Pay close attention to the mother’s current legal name versus her maiden name.

If her legal surname is different from her maiden

surname, she HAS most likely been MARRIED previously.

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In this case, question the mother.

Her marital status should be: Divorced (with accurate divorce date) OR Married/Separated

The system will not allow a date of divorce to fall between the date of conception and date of birth.

The system will force you to change either the divorce date, the child’s date of birth or the marital status.

If the dates are very close and a paternity acknowledgment may be appropriate, contact state office for guidance.

Parents MUST VERIFY ALL information on the paternity acknowledgment prior to signing.

INFORM them that upon signing the paternity,

NO corrections will be made to the father’s information on the birth record without a court order.

Reminders

Circle the sex of the child. Verify the Date of Birth of the child. DO NOT leave any fields blank. DO NOT use the word UNKNOWN. DO NOT use the phrase N/A. DO NOT write “same as above” in the maiden name field. Write out the complete maiden first, middle and last names. If parents have double last names, DO NOT include as part of the middle name field.

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If parents do not have a SSN, leave the field blank and tab through in WebBirth.

– If completing a manual Paternity Acknowledgment, write NONE if the parents do not have a SSN.

Verify the witness signature is present. Verify that both parents signatures are on the form. Verify that ALL notary information (commission expiration date, ID document and number, and signature of notary) is complete. Verify that the witness and notary signatures are dated and the witness date is on or before the notary date.

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MAKE SURE that the ORIGINAL paternity acknowledgment is mailed to Vital Statistics Registration office.

MAKE SURE that there are NO ALTERATIONS on paternity. DO NOT USE whiteout.

If a parent refuses to provide any information, the paternity cannot be completed.

Flow of Paternity Acknowledgment

Forward Paternity Acknowledgment to State Vital Statistics Registration office with transmittal.

Transmittal should include information on each paternity acknowledgment included in envelope.

Once received registration staff will stamp date received for each paternity acknowledgment to confirm receipt and fax stamped transmittal to facility.

FACILITY:___________________________________ FAX #: _______________________

DATE TO DHEC

LAST NAME OF CHILD

SFN DATE DHEC RECEIVED & STAFF

DATE DHEC ACCEPTED

DATE DHEC REJECTED

DATE RE- RELEASED TO DHEC

Flow of Paternity Acknowledgment

Registration processes paternity acknowledgments daily.

Each paternity acknowledgment is reviewed and compared to information in WebBirth.

If all information matches and paternity acknowledgment is complete, the record is accepted.

Once accepted the record is ready for issuance, it is sent to SSA the following Friday for assignment of SSN.

Rejection of Paternity Acknowledgments

If we receive a paternity with any errors or alterations, we will REJECT the paternity acknowledgment.

If there are any errors made, you MUST have the parents return to complete another paternity acknowledgment.

Rejection of Paternity Acknowledgments

When a paternity acknowledgment is rejected back to your facility, a message window will pop up stating the discrepancy.

You must verify the information from the worksheet and/or medical record.

Rejection of Paternity Acknowledgments

If the information on the paternity acknowledgment is correct, the corresponding information should be corrected in WebBirth and released back to DHEC within 5 business days.

If the record is correct in WebBirth, a new paternity acknowledgment must be completed.

The state file date will be changed to the new release date.

Rejection of Paternity Acknowledgments

When a paternity acknowledgment is rejected back to your facility and a new paternity acknowledgment is required.

The parents should be given no more than 5 business days from the first day of contact, to come in and complete another paternity acknowledgment.

If they do not come back within that time frame,

remove the father’s information from the record in WebBirth and release the record back to DHEC.

Verify! Verify! Verify!

The witness has explained the rights and responsibilities to the father and signed the paternity acknowledgment.

Facility staff have verified all information on the paternity acknowledgment

Parents have read the paternity acknowledgment for accuracy before signing.

Parents have presented a government issued ID that has not expired.