Vaterschaftsfeststellung Beratung und Unterstützung

You have or are expecting a child and the father of the child does not want to acknowledge his paternity or is unknown? Get advice on what you can do and who can help you.

If you have a child and are not married to the child's father, the father does not automatically become the child's legal father. This can be done by voluntarily acknowledging paternity (only if the mother is not married to another man).

If the father does not voluntarily acknowledge paternity or it is unclear who the father is, there is also the option of establishing paternity in court.

Counseling

You can obtain advice on this from the Office for Social Services. The Office for Social Services will also support you in establishing paternity.

Once paternity has been established, you can clarify other matters:

• Child maintenance claims
• Maintenance claims of the mother
• custody rights
• Inheritance claims of the child
• Granting of the father's name

However, the child also has a right to know its origins.

Assistance

You can apply for guardianship to establish paternity.

The guardianship does not restrict parental custody. The guardian represents the child in the process of establishing paternity. The guardian can act on behalf of the child in and out of court. Once legal paternity has been established, the guardian can also clarify questions of maintenance.

Specifically, the guardian can do the following:

• Request the father to acknowledge paternity and record the necessary documents
• Arrange for the paternity to be clarified in court
• Calculating your child's maintenance entitlement
• Regular review of the maintenance claim
• Recording a deed of maintenance
• Judicial enforcement of the maintenance claim
• Collection and monitoring of maintenance payments
• Determining the whereabouts and employer of the parent liable for maintenance

You can seek advice on this topic at any time.

The expectant mother can apply for guardianship even before the child is born if the expectant mother is not married and the parents have not made any joint declarations of custody.

After the birth, guardianship can be applied for at any time until the child reaches the age of majority.

Make an appointment with your local social center. The appointment can also take place at home if you wish.

A written application to the local social center is sufficient for guardianship. Upon receipt of the application, the Youth Welfare Office immediately becomes the child's guardian. The youth welfare office at the place of residence of the parent making the application is responsible.

The Youth Welfare Office also does the following:

• The Youth Welfare Office advises and supports you in asserting maintenance claims.
• The Youth Welfare Office certifies acknowledgments of paternity and consent of the mother and legal representatives, maintenance claims, declarations of custody for joint custody and acknowledgments of maternity.
• The Youth Welfare Office issues certificates for unmarried mothers stating that there is no entry in the custody register and that the mother therefore has sole custody. This is known as a negative certificate.