Paternity means fatherhood.
Establishing paternity means a man is legally determined to be the father of a child. Establishing paternity legally benefits a child. The affidavit is a sworn agreement about paternity. Neither parent should sign it if either has any doubts about the truth of the affidavit. The Federal Welfare Act of 1996 requires anyone signing an affidavit be given sixty days to change his or her mind and rescind the affidavit.