Most states will permit a father to execute an affidavit acknowledging paternity, which eliminates the need for a court action. The affidavit must also be signed by both mother and father, notarized, and filed with the court. Once a paternity affidavit is filed and signed by a judge (if required by state law), the father cannot later attempt to rescind or void the affidavit. If the father’s name does not already appear on the child’s birth certificate, a corrected one will be reissued, showing the names of both parents.

Paternity affidavits are often encouraged to remove the stigma sometimes attaching to children who may grow up believing they were unwanted because a parent denied or avoided parentage. Attendant to a voluntary petition for a paternity determination are other determinations that the court may rule on at the same time, mostly addressing the support, involvement, and active role in a child’s life that the father will assume.