What is the difference punitive father vs legal father?
What does it mean to be a putative father mean?
A putative is an unmarried man who believes or claims that he is the biological father of a child at the time of birth of a child.
Putative Father Registry
There are at least 24 states that have established paternity registries where putative fathers can indicate their intention to claim paternity including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
What if There is No Putative Father Registry? Many states and the Northern Mariana Islands allow a putative father to claim paternity by filing an affidavit or acknowledgment of paternity with a court or appropriate state authority. These states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
If there is not a putative father registry or a voluntary paternity acknowledgment, paternity can always be established by court order.
What is a legal father?
A legal father refers to a husband or an unmarried man who signs a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity.