Originally Posted by Mellowicious
A couple of things I found at https://www.findlaw.com/family/paternity/legal-significance-of-paternity.html

I was wrong about birth certificates, which I should have known if I was thinking. My apologies for that.

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Contrary to come belief when a man’s name is indicated on a child’s birth certificate as the father, this doesn’t establish paternity.

On the other hand, I was right about something else:
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Under voluntarily assumed paternity the father welcomes the child into his home and open the old the child out as his own.

There are also paternal rights as well as responsibilities and I believe they’re included in the article.

Thanks for doing that research, Julia. From that same link...


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For a child, the legal significance of paternity is the establishment of financial support from his or her father. The child gains the right to receive shelter and aid from his or her father, as well as the right to inherit, the right to access personal information about the known health risks and profiles of the paternal family, and the right to sue for harm or death of the father that results in loss to the child.

A child for whom parentage has been established may also be eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits resulting from the father's death, or other dependent-based governmental assistance. From a health perspective, the child also gains a sense of emotional and psychological relief knowing the identity of his or her father.

My husband was listed as the father on our daughter's birthday certificate. In fact, she had a hyphenated last name. He was later advised by an attorney to go through the process of legitimating her though (adopt) for all the reasons listed above. He did.
He was already supporting her but he wanted to secure her future.


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