Acknowledgement of paternity; notarization

The legal effects of paternity to an "illegitimate" child can only be asserted once paternity has been validly acknowledged or legally established by a court.

The vast majority of paternity determinations are based on voluntary acknowledgement. This must be declared before the youth welfare office, the local court, the registrar, the court of paternity establishment proceedings or before a notary and be publicly certified. Abroad, the competent consular official takes the place of the notary. The recognition may not be subject to any condition or time provision. It is permissible even before the birth of the child.

In order for the recognition to become effective, the mother of the child must consent to it. The recognition requires exceptionally also the consent of the child, if the mother is not entitled to the parental care in this respect. The most important case is when the mother is a minor and her custody rights are therefore suspended. In this case, the child is represented by the Youth Welfare Office as official guardian (of course, the underage mother in turn requires the consent of her legal representatives, i.e. as a rule the parents, for her consent). The consents to the recognition must also be publicly notarized.

If the man is not willing to voluntarily acknowledge paternity, the child or the mother may apply for the determination of paternity (however, an application by the man for determination is also admissible, for example, if in his opinion the mother wrongfully refuses to consent to his declaration of acknowledgement).

The family court decides on the declaratory application in parentage proceedings. As a rule, a genetic parentage expert opinion is obtained. If the expert opinion comes to a sufficiently certain probability of paternity, the court determines that the man in question is the father of the child.

In addition to the application for determination of paternity, the child may file an application for payment of child support if he or she is a minor. The local family court can order the man to pay maintenance in the amount of the minimum maintenance retroactively from birth; this claim becomes effective when the man's paternity has been legally established or he has validly acknowledged paternity. This is intended to enable the child to obtain a maintenance title as quickly as possible. On application, the court can, under certain circumstances, also oblige the man to pay maintenance by means of a temporary order even before paternity has been legally established. If it is disputed whether the father can pay less or more than the minimum maintenance, this must be decided in a follow-up proceeding.

Both in the preparation of a voluntary acknowledgment and in paternity proceedings, the child may be legally represented by the Youth Welfare Office as counsel.

Responsibility for the certification:

Youth welfare office, local court, court of paternity establishment proceedings, registry office, notary, abroad the competent German consular official.

Responsibility for the procedure in parentage cases:
.
Local Court - Family Court.

Court costs are incurred for the court proceedings, including expert witness costs. The expert costs can amount to several thousand euros. As a rule, the child and, if needy, the husband and mother will also be able to obtain legal aid.