Both parents have a responsibility to support their child. Both the mother and the father can provide financial help for the baby as it grows. Receiving child support from the father can make a big difference in providing for the child. When paternity is established, information about the family health history will be available if disease or illness develops. By establishing paternity, your child may qualify for benefits from the father such as social security, insurance, inheritance, health or veterans benefits.
Legal paternity is established in many ways depending on the mother's and father's situation.
If the mother is married when the baby is born, her husband is considered by law to be the father unless a court says otherwise. If the mother has been divorced or widowed for less than ten months, her husband at the time of conception is considered by law to be the father. If the mother is married at the time of conception or birth but her husband is not the biological father of the child, a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is not allowed unless a court has determined that the husband is not the father. These papers may be completed at the hospital of the baby's birth or through an affidavit which must be notarized and recorded with the court. A judge can declare a man the legal father of a child by default or after a hearing.