You also need to remember that once paternity is established under Tennessee law, the court is going to look to set not only child support for the present, but also to determine what amount "should" have been paid in the past, and it will use the Tennessee child suport guidelines to do so.... meaning present ability to pay will only be considered with respect to present child support, but the child support obligation for past years will be set on the father's earnings for each past year individually.

        What this means is that a father who did not even know he had a child can get sued for paternity and child support years later and end up whacked with thousands of dollars in child support.  One recent case involved
Below, with some slight modifications to address specifics of  Tennessee law, you will find information prepared by the organization DADS Against Discrimination, and you will find their homepage at http://www.dadsusa.com/  It is reprinted here (as modified) with the permission of Jeff Edwards, the head of DADS.  DADS reserves the copyright of it's material below; I reserver the copyright to mine as above.  To comment on the material below, contact Jeff Edwards at jedwards@PEAK.ORG

The Paternity Information Page was created to present paternity information for fathers from a fathers point of view. Since "PATERNITY" is the state of being a father, fatherhood, and male parentage, a frank and revealing presentation of paternity information by and for fathers is made. Currently paternity is strongly linked to child support; therefore, child support and its link to paternity is discussed. Concerning child support enforcement agencies: keep in mind that the main purpose for creating these agencies was and is to recoup the money (AFDC, food stamps) given to a single parent family with your child or children. In almost every case, the non-applicant parent - the father - was never asked if he would want custody of his child(ren) so they would not have to be on public assistance at tax payer expense.

Please note that the word "paternity" is gender biased. If this was replaced by a word that referred to the color of someone's skin, or religious background it would be recognized as "discriminatory" and unacceptable. We strongly encourage replacement of the term "paternity" with the non-gender biased term of "PARENTAGE".

What is Paternity ?
Paternity is fatherhood, simple enough.

What is Paternity Acknowledgment?
Paternity Acknowledgment is the name given to the voluntary process of the unwed father being recognized as the alleged biological father (not birth father - fathers do not give birth!) of a child or children for child support purposes ONLY. A little known fact of these Paternity Acknowledgments is that custody is granted to the mother. Most often nurses or midwives are required by the state to ask the alleged father to sign the Paternity Acknowledgment Form.

Please note that paternity acknowledgment DOES NOT establish legal, court recognized paternity, and may establish custody without due process (administratively designated custody).

NOTE: In Tennessee, it's called the Tennessee Voluntary Acknowledgement Program, and while I strongly encourage men to accept full responsibility for their children, to pay child support, to take an active role in the child's life, to see custody when it would be best for the child, to marry and stay with the mothers of their children, and to keep their pants on if they are unwilling to do these things.... it is still important that a man know the consequences ot acknowledging paternity, and the pamphlet used in Tennessee at this time does everything to persuade, but nothing to inform.  The pamphlet never once mentions that a man acknowledging paternity is most likely going to have to pay child support, eighteen years of it, with the court setting the child support generally ordering the father to pay support for the period from the date the child was born up until the date the order was entered, and then paying child support each week or month thereafter until the child is 18, and to also carry medical insurance, pay half of any future medical bills, and pay for the medical costs of the childbirth.  With this in mind, it often would make sense to require a paternity test, particularly since about 20% of the time men acknowledging that they are the father are wrong.... and they pay for someone else's child.

The pamphlet used in Tennessee is further misleading in that the only place where it it addressess costs is in saying that there is no fee to acknowledge paternity of a child right away, but that if you wait you might have to pay a small cost to have your name added to the birth certificate.  Folks, the birth certificate is NOT what determines whether a man is or is not the father, whether he will or will not have legal rights to the child, or whether he will or will not pay child support or have custody.  The birth certificate is not really an important issue in all of this, but the pamphlet suggests that it is, and ignores the issue of child support.  How much will child support be?  It would start at 21% of the father's net, after-tax income for one child, and increase for each child.  You can see the details on this at the link on setting child support.  The pamphlet also is written to give the impression that fathers of children born outside of marriage have no right or chance of getting custody of the child from the courts -- this is wrong.  If a father establishes that he is the father, and he properly asks the court for custody of the child, the court is required to look at essentially the same factors considered in determining custody in a divorce case

Presumption of paternity
To make things simple, individual states have accepted a principle, if met, automatically presumes paternity.  The principle is known as Lord Mansfield's Rule, named after an English noble, who in 1777 articulated it in the name of "decency, morality, and policy" to prevent husband and wife from bastardizing the children of their marriage, 98 Eng. Rep. 1257 (1777), at 1258. Basically, this rule states that if a child is conceived within marriage, the husband is presumed to be the father. Since this presumption is not always true, some states have introduced "milkman" legislation to challenge or rebut this presumption.
 

Establishing Paternity
Establishing paternity out of marriage is a little more complicated.  Below are some of the most common ways to establish paternity.

• Filing a Petition to Legitmate in Juvenile Court to require a hearing to determine if you are the father.  If the mother doesn't argue anything (called "contesting the Petition"), the Court will enter an Order establishing your paternity.  If the mother files an answer denying that you are the father, or shows up at the time of the trial on the Petition and denies you are the father, the court will hear testimony, perhaps order a DNA test, and will decide whether you are or are not the father.  This finding paves the way so you can file for visitation and custody.  Support will also be determined.
• Allowing the mother to file a Petition To Establsih Paternity (esentially the equivalent of the Petition to Legitimate that fathers file) and either admitting you are the father or allowing the court to hear evidence or order DNA tests and then deciding you are the father
• Signing the paternity acknowledgment form - see below for a detailed description.

Your name being on the birth certificate does NOT automatically establish legal paternity.

With the passage of Welfare Reform, watch out for a streamlined system for establishing paternity.  States are now required to meet a 90% paternity establishment standard. Below is an excerpt from the article, A Brief Look at the Welfare Reform Bill (1996).

Under welfare reform it will be easier and faster to establish paternity's. The voluntary in-hospital paternity establishment program is strengthened. States must publicize the availability of and encourage the use of voluntary paternity establishment processes. Those persons who fail to cooperate in establishing paternity will have their monthly cash assistance reduced by at least 25 percent.

I Want To Be The Father, She Doesn't!
With all of the laws and procedures for establishing paternity, some fathers have had a difficult time in establishing paternity when the mother does not want you involved. Below are some suggestions for fathers to increase their chance of establishing paternity. These suggestions include, but are not limited to the following.

• Before the birth of your child submit a "Notice of Intent to Claim Paternity" with your local District court. This demonstrates to the court your willingness to be involved with and have contact with your child.
• States have developed forms and filing procedures to help establish paternity. The State of Oregon has a form called "Notification of Filing Petition of Filiation Proccedings". This form needs to be filled out, preferably before the birth, and submitted to the Oregon Department of Records. The purpose of this form is to alert adoption agencies of a possible father for whom a baby might be adopted. All states have a form of this kind and a filing procedures. The unfortunate part is that fathers need to file this form in each state that the baby might be born, not just concieved in.
• In a paternity dispute DO NOT argue "best interest". Argue that you ARE the father. Remember, baby Richard finally was awarded to his biological father. See the section: Is there a Statute of Limitation to determine paternity?

The issue of paternity establishment has been recognized by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and the States as a major national concern.

 The sheer increase in the number of children being born outside of marriage during the last thirty years has commanded our attention because, in many cases, it directly and adversely affects the economic well-being of our nation's children. As a result, this Office recognizes that there is an urgent need to develop -- at a minimum -- practices and policies which make it as easy as possible for fathers to voluntarily establish their child's paternity.

           TABLE 9-3.--INCENTIVE PAYMENT STRUCTURE                
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Incentive  
                                                          payment   
            Collection-to-cost ratio                     received   
                                                         (percent)  
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 1.4 to 1......................................         6.0
At least 1.4 to 1.......................................         6.5
At least 1.6 to 1.......................................         7.0
At least 1.8 to 1.......................................         7.5
At least 2.0 to 1.......................................         8.0
At least 2.2 to 1.......................................         8.5
At least 2.4 to 1.......................................         9.0
At least 2.6 to 1.......................................         9.5
At least 2.8 to 1.......................................        10.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Office of Child Support Enforcement, U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services.

Another interesting tactic child support agencies use to deceive is to require, or in many instances, threaten, people to pay child support through the child support division. Not only does this create more money to float, but now the agency can brag on how much more child support is being collected. This is false because these agencies are not doing a better job in collecting support, what they are doing is requiring people who have been paying support regularly to now use their system.

Another illustration linking paternity establishment to increasing child support is made clear by the title of this 1995 report by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement called The Child Support Improvement Project: Paternity Establishment.

Paternity Acknowledgments Forms (PAF)
To make it easy for the child support division to increase collections, the Paternity Acknowledgment Form (PAF) has been created. Other names are: Declaration of paternity and paternity opportunity program. When this form is signed by the alleged father the child support division can start collecting child support. States have programs that encourage the voluntary signing of a Paternity Acknowledgments Form. In most instances, a nurse or midwife is required by the state to ask the alleged father to sign a PAF.

It is suggested that you visit your local hospital long before the child's "due date" and pick up a copy of the PAF and the corresponding information pamphlet. If you read carefully through the pamphlet you get the impression that by signing the PAF you will bring untold status upon yourself while proving to the world that you are doing the "right" thing.

There are blatant lies in these pamphlets. For example, the Montana State "Paternity Information" pamphlet states that "custody starts with the mother". Not only is this unconstitutional but it goes against the Montana law stating legislative intent - joint custody. Oregon State has two information pamphlets, one for the mother and one for the father. We find that the most important information in these pamphlets is altogether missing from these pamphlets.
 

Signing the Paternity Acknowledgments Form

It is important to keep in mind that by signing the "Paternity Acknowledgment Form" (PAF), you are giving your states Child Support Enforcement Division legal power to collect child support from you. Depending upon your state's laws, this support can be taken in one or more of the following forms: garnishing wages, keeping state and federal tax returns (1994), seizing liquid assets (in other words "cash", or cleaning out any of your banking accounts), taking insurance settlements, and turning you over to a collection agency. Other mechanisms used to gain child support are: revoking state licenses, and the possibility of placing you in jail. How do they know where you are? The Federal Government has requested that states implement a new hire reporting system, where new hire information will be sent to the Office of Child Support Enforcement so it can be crossmatched with existing cases in the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) and the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program. 25 states are currently participating in the program...look for one in a state near you.

Check out the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Welfare Reform Bill) and see what the federal government is requiring the states to do concerning paternity and child support enforcement.

By signing the PAF you are NOT establishing legal visitation or custody. Also by signing the PAF you are giving up "due process" concerning taking care of visitation, custody, and support all in one swoop. Your local District Court can establish paternity, child support, visitation, and custody while also providing due process.

You may get the feeling from the above paragraph that we are discouraging signing the PAF. Not true. We are against signing a PAF while not knowing ALL the implications that go along with the signing of the PAF. If you are comfortable with signing the PAF and all the requirements that go with it, congratulations.
 

Web paternity information
States have published information on the Internet to publicize their paternity programs to make it as attractive as possible for fathers to voluntarily sign paternity acknowledgments. This purpose of this section is to point out and identify paternity information put on the web by local governmental agencies, mainly child support enforcement agencies, which are false and/or misleading.

The first step in looking at these web pages is to see who is sponsoring these pages and programs. You will find from the below pages that the sponsors are the child support enforcement agencies of that state.

Please note the one main theme that runs throughout these paternity acknowledgment programs is one of responsibility. In actuality what these programs are promoting is "selective responsibility". A program that centers on child support only while ignoring access is telling fathers that they are only looked at as being a financial contributor. This is unacceptable.

Are you POSITIVE you are the father?
There is a big difference between "I might be the father" and "I am positive I am the father."  It might be in your best interest to find out for sure if you are the father.  Men who 'admit' paternity are often wrong   About one in five expectant "fathers" - isn't.  In the research article "Blood-Grouping Tests in Undisputed Paternity Proceedings", Sussman and Schatkin, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 164, No. 3, page 249, the authors looked at paternity litigants in 67 cases who submitted to blood testing AFTER the men voluntarily admitted to paternity.  By using the A-B-O, M-N and Rh-Hr blood typing systems, it was found that 12 of the 67 men who admitted paternity were probably NOT the actual fathers.  In other words 18% of those fathers who voluntarily admitted paternity were in fact not the fathers.

Check out these links if you "might" be the father:

U.S. News report on paternity and paternity testing
DNA Testing Information
DNA Paternity Services web page and 1-800 number.
DNA Diagnostics Center web page and 1-800 number.

Is there a Statute of Limitation to determine paternity?
No.  Not in Tennessee.

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                                        Disclosure on Non-Representation Link
                                        Disclosures on Certification of Specialization Link