Scott33,
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I can point you in the right
direction, according to Georgia Law, about the steps you can take to
work on this situation.
What I found out is this. To start with, I'll give you some of the
legal definitions according to Georgia that pertain to this situation
This is taken from the Georgia Unannotated Code, section 19-8-1
***Right now, you would be considered a biological father***
(1) 'Biological father' means the male who impregnated the biological
mother resulting in the birth of the child.
(2) 'Child' means a person who is under 18 years of age and who is
sought to be adopted.
(3) 'Child-placing agency' means an agency licensed as a child-placing
agency pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 49.
(4) 'Department' means the Department of Human Resources.
(5) 'Guardian' means a legal guardian of the person of a child.
***This is where you'll need to be to have parental rights in the end***
(6) 'Legal father' means a male who:
(A) Has legally adopted a child;
(B) Was married to the biological mother of that child at the time the
child was conceived or was born, unless such paternity was disproved
by a final order pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 7 of this title;
(C) Married the legal mother of the child after the child was born and
recognized the child as his own, unless such paternity was disproved
by a final order pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 7 of this title;
(D) Has been determined to be the father by a final paternity order
pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 7 of this title; or
(E) Has legitimated the child by a final order pursuant to Code Section 19-7-22,
and who has not surrendered or had terminated his rights to the child.
(7) 'Legal mother' means the female who is the biological or adoptive
mother of the child and who has not surrendered or had terminated her
rights to the child.
(8) 'Parent' means either the legal father or the legal mother of the child.
(9) 'Petitioner' means a person who petitions to adopt or terminate
rights to a child pursuant to this chapter.
(10) 'Putative father registry' means the registry established and
maintained pursuant to subsections (d) and (e) of Code Section
19-11-9.
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/gacode/19-8-1.html
Therefore, your first step, since she didn't name you on the birth
certificate as a legal father is to establish paternity. You may also
want to register on the Putative Father Registry.
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Putative%20father%20registry%20georgia&btnG=Google+Search
This registry will let you claim paternity with out proof, in case the
child is given up for adoption. This is important because, for
example. Say you're in the process of establishing paternity and she
decided to give the child up for adoption. Your name isn't on the
birth certificate, and you've not completed a paternity test that
would give you legal proof that you are the father, through DNA
testing. However, being on this registry, it sends up a flag, and the
state will contact you to have you prove paternity, before they grant
an adoption as the child, because, if you are the legal father, you
have rights to take the child if you so choose before adoption is
granted.
Here is what the Legal Code Section 19-11-9 has to say about the
registry and what it's there for:
"(d)(1) There is established within the department a putative father
registry. For purposes of this subsection, 'biological father' and
'legal father' shall have the meanings set out in Code Section 19-8-1.
The putative father registry shall record the name, address, and
social security number of any person who claims to be the biological
father but not the legal father of a child, and the date of entry of
such information. Placement on the putative father registry shall not
be used as an admission of guilt to any crime under Georgia law or
used as evidence in any criminal prosecution under Georgia law.
(2) The putative father registry shall include two types of registrations:
(A) Persons who acknowledge paternity of a child or children before or
after birth in a signed writing; and
(B) Persons who register to indicate the possibility of paternity
without acknowledging paternity.
(3) Registrants shall be informed that this registration may be used
to establish an obligation to support the child or children and that
this registration shall be used to provide notice of adoption
proceedings or proceedings to terminate the rights of a biological
father who is not a legal father but that registration without further
action does not enable the registrant to prevent an adoption or
termination of his rights by objecting. All registrants shall be asked
to provide information regarding changes in their addresses.
(4) A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be rescinded pursuant
to the provisions of Code Section 19-7-46.1.
(5) The department shall publicize the existence and availability of
the putative father registry to the public, including but not limited
to providing information disseminated in connection with certificates
of live birth and through county boards of health. The department is
authorized to prescribe the notices, forms, and educational materials
to be used for entities that may offer voluntary paternity
establishment services.
(6) The department shall keep the putative father registry as current
as feasible, adding entries or information to the registry often
enough that new registrations or new information regarding
registrants, mothers, or children shall be added to the registry no
later than two business days following receipt of the information from
the registrant.
(e) The information which is obtained by the department shall only be available to:
(1) A governmental department, board, commission, bureau, agency, or
political subdivision of any state for purposes of locating an absent
parent or putative father to establish or to enforce his obligation of
support, of enforcing a child custody determination, or of enforcing
any state or federal law with respect to the unlawful taking or
restraint of a child; or
(2) The department, a licensed child-placing agency, or a member in
good standing of the State Bar of Georgia in response to a request for
information for purposes of locating a biological father who is not
the legal father to provide notice of adoption proceedings or a
proceeding to terminate the rights of a biological father who is not a
legal father. The request for information shall include, to the extent
the information is known to the department, agency, or attorney, the
name, address, and social security number of the mother of the child
and of the alleged biological father who is not the legal father of
the child and the childīs name, sex, and date of birth. The department
shall within two business days of its receipt of such a request for
information issue a written certificate documenting its response.
(f) The department shall charge a fee of $10.00 for each certification
regarding entries on the putative father registry or other information
provided pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of this Code
section. The department shall waive the fee provided for in this
subsection upon presentation of an affidavit of the petitionerīs
indigency. The department shall transmit the fees received pursuant to
this subsection to the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services for
deposit in the treasury of the state and shall provide an annual
accounting of such fees to the Governor and the General Assembly."
Establishing paternity is a simple test. It matches the baby's DNA to
yours, medically proving that you are the father. That way, you can go
to court and prove that you are the legal father. Here are some
frequently asked questions about Georgia's paternity testing.
http://www.paternitynet.com/faq18.html
You can find out more information on paternity testing in Georgia here:
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=paternity+testing+georgia&btnG=Search
This will allow the court to legally decree (unless other
circumstances show that you are unfit) you parental rights,
visitation, and what ever other rights or wants you may have that the
court and both parties agree on. That is called a custody hearing.
http://www.ph.dhr.state.ga.us/programs/vitalrecords/fatherreg.shtml
I am also going to advice calling your county's Health and Human
Services Department, asking them for a referral about your situation,
and seeing if there's anything that they can do to help, as they are
usually very involved in parents and children's rights. I would
recommend also contacting a lawyer for legal advice through out this
process. And, last but not least, maybe finding a support group to
help you through some of the challenges you may face and/or good
advice from people in the same situation as yourself.
Here is the link to the website for Family and Children's Services in
Georgia where you can locate your county office.
http://dfcs.dhr.georgia.gov/00/channel_modifieddate/0,2096,3815890_3819758,00.html
Here is a link to Custody Lawyers in Georgia search on Google. From
here, there are 100's of places you can look through lawyer listings
and pick some to talk to for a consultation. Some will even do one
free meeting to hear if you have a case or not and go from there.
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=custody%20lawyers%20georgia&btnG=Google+Search
Here is a custody checklist, so that once you've established
paternity, you have an idea of what you'll need to know and do
http://www.childcustody411.com/CHK123AA/index.html
Here are some father's rights support groups
Google Search:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=father's%20rights%20support%20groups%20georgia&btnG=Google+Search
Other links:
http://www.ancpr.org/
http://www.ability.org.uk/fathers_rights.html
http://www.west.net/~ivguy/links.htm#Father's%20Rights
Here are some of the links and searches I used to find all of this information:
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=+father%27s+rights+georgia+&btnG=Search
http://www.familylaw.org/
http://www.familylaw.org/familylawcode.htm
I wish you the best of luck. I also would like to say, on a personal
opinion note, that I think the fact you're standing up and wanting to
do the right thing here and be involved in your child's life is
outstanding. I would have done this research no matter what, because
your heart is in the right place I believe.
Nenna-GA
Google Answers Researcher
If this answer requires further explanation, please request
clarification from me by using the ?Request Clarification? feature so
that we can get you the best answer possible before you choose to rate
my answer and move on. ? |
