Establish Parentage
What is Parentage
Parentage is the recognition of a parent’s legal relationship to a child. In California a “marital presumption” applies: In most cases, a child born into a marriage, or spouses who lived together at the time of conception and birth, is legally a child of the marriage
What is POP
POP is a voluntary program for a birth parent and other parent to establish legal parentage free of charge. This significantly decreases the time and money required to establish parentage through the court process. In most cases, a signed and filed Voluntary Declaration of Parentage (VDOP) has the same force and effect as a judgment for parentage issued by a court.
Voluntary Declaration of Parentage
A VDOP may be completed only after the child’s birth. A VDOP must be completed and signed by both parents with their signatures properly witnessed and
successfully filed with POP before legal parentage is established. A VDOP signed outside of California must be witnessed by a Notary Public.
The original double sided VDOP must be submitted to POP – no attachments except for a notary certification will be accepted.
Get the Voluntary Declaration of Parentage witnessed at:
• Hospitals (at the time of birth)
• Local child support agency – Find yours at: www.childsupport.ca.gov
• Local registrar of births and deaths
• Courts (Family Law Facilitator)
• Find yours at: www.childsupport.ca.gov
• County welfare office
• Notary public
Legal Parentage for Unmarried Parents
The State of California defines “parentage” as a parent’s legal relationship to a child. When a birth parent and other parent are not married to each other, the law says the birth parent and other parent must complete a VDOP or get a court order BEFORE the other parent’s name can be added to the birth certificate. A name on a birth certificate does NOT legally establish parentage. Only a court order or the Voluntary Declaration of Parentage (VDOP) establishes legal parentage.
Establishing legal parentage is easy and FREE, and helps a child in many ways:
• Identifying the legal parents of the child
• Providing parents the right to seek custody or visitation with their child
• Protecting the child’s right to inherit from the parents
• Allows the other parent’s name to be added to the child’s birth certificate
• Could allow the child to be added to the other parent’s health insurance plan
For questions about birth certificates, contact the California Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records at (916) 445-2684 or vrmail@cdph.ca.gov
It’s easy to establish legal parentage without going to court—and it’s free
For more information on POP
www.childsupport.ca.gov
Under “Services We Offer”
Contact POP
askpop@dcss.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 464-1982