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Arizona Paternity

Hello, my fiancé and I have a six year old son who was born in AZ. Fiancé didn’t get to make the birth so he wasn’t there to sign the certificate. We now live in WA state and we are wanting to add fiancé to the certificate. Can we sign an acknowledgment of voluntary paternity form together since we both agree he’s the father?

Will they still send us to court for dna even though we don’t live in az anymore? Or is the voluntary form enough?

Is the Voluntary paternity form enough to establish paternity?

Where can we go to notarize the form in WA?


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134578 tn?1693250592
COMMUNITY LEADER
OK, it seems to me the logic here is that the baby was born in Arizona, and the county where he was born has his birth record, and you're amending that record.  So it seems like anything you do to change that record has to be done in Arizona. Also, check everything I'm saying in this answer with a lawyer before you do anything.

If there was a paternity challenge, or a woman was trying to force a guy to acknowledge paternity and he was hostile to the attempt, then a DNA test would be required. But if both of the parents know they are the parents and simply sign something saying so, the courts won't force them to also run out and get a DNA test when they turn in the form.

Depending on the state, a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity might be an actual form (in Washington, I think it's a carbon form with different colored pages), but in many states it's just a one-page document produced by a lawyer. In Arizona it might be the latter.

You can get things notarized at a full-service bank.

Be sure you check everything I've said with an attorney in Arizona to make sure, before you try it.
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If checking with an attorney in Arizona sounds prohibitively  expensive, you might call the Child and Family Law Clinic at the University of Arizona Law School.

A lot of law schools provide clinical training to their third-year students by running low-cost or no-cost clinics (under the supervision of licensed attorneys) to serve people who don't have much money for legal services but still need a lawyer.  I googled the question, and the UA Law School has one that specializes in family law.

In any clinic that specializes in family law, the attorneys and law students will have access immediately to the answer to your question about how this record can get changed, and especially, about jurisdiction. Like I said above, it doesn't seem to me that you can amend a child's birth certificate by filing in any other state except where the child's birth was originally registered, but DO ask someone who is practicing family law in Arizona, to be sure! :) It's probably a very simple matter to file the right form or letter once you know what to do, and they can tell you the way to do it.

Finally, I should mention (and don't mean to offend you), when you asked about whether a DNA test would be required, I assumed you were wondering just because you know for sure that he's the dad, and don't want the cost or hassle of a DNA test. If so, just go right ahead. But if there is any doubt in your mind at all about whether he might actually be the biological dad, (like, you had two boyfriends one after the other and never did a DNA test), don't go ahead with legal filings for paternity until you clear up that question. It's a great thing for your child's sake that you are putting his legal record into order. But it would be a time bomb for the future if his paternity were to be misattributed on his birth certificate.

Anyway, call the legal clinic, they should be able to answer your questions without doing any research since it's probably a common question that they get.  :) Have fun finally getting things properly recorded for your child!
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