Everyone knows that being a father is complicated.
From the tasks of teaching a child right from wrong (or even just safe from unsafe), explaining the injustices of life, and protecting them from the myriad of dangers grow more numerous every year, the job of a hands-on father is not a small one. Unmarried fathers not currently involved in their children’s lives but wishing to “get in on the game” with all of its challenges and rewards are likely have questions that need answers. Like, does a guy have to prove he is the father to have any voice in his kid’s life? What exactly are the rights and responsibilities of a father under Minnesota Law? Is a guy totally at the mercy of the child’s mother and what she wants? A good source of information for questions like these is the Unmarried Fathers’ Guide to Paternity, Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support in Minnesota.
Briefly, the first task an unmarried father faces is to make his paternity been legally established, because he does not have a right to any custody or parenting time until it has been. (See Minnesota Statute §257.55 for information on presumptive fatherhood and §257.63 regarding evidence related to paternity.) If paternity gets determined by a hearing, the court will then decide custody, child support and parenting time based on the best interests of the child (just like in divorce). In cases where paternity is established by a Recognition of Parentage form as opposed to a paternity hearing, a father has no automatic right to custody or parenting time unless he specifically goes to court for them.
If you think you may be the father of a child born to a woman who is not your wife, but paternity has not yet been established by a Recognition of Parentage form or court order, you can register with the Minnesota Fathers Adoption Registry no later than 30 days after the child’s birth. This way you can be notified if a Petition for Adoption of the child is ever filed in a Minnesota court. This is so you can take part in the legal adoption proceedings and seek to establish legal paternity if you so choose. Albeit not a perfect process, compare it to how few options an unwed father had at the time of this groundbreaking case.
