Late recognition of a child: what consequences for parental authority?
Verified 19 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
When the parents are not married, the father who acknowledges her child after the age of 1 year is not the exercise of parental authority.
He may nevertheless request to exercise his rights and duties towards the child, in common with the mother, by one of the following means:
- Joint statement with the mother
- Recourse to the Judge for Family Affairs (Jaf)
However, recognition of paternity is not possible in the following cases:
- Stillborn child
- Incestuous descent (ie, the child should not have been born of a relationship between a person and one of his or her own ascendants or between a brother and a sister)
- Legally established affiliation (i.e. the child has already been recognized by another father). In this case, it is possible to to challenge that parentage before you can make a late recognition.
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Agreement with the mother
The father can make a joint declaration with the mother from the cerfa form n°12785.
Joint declaration of joint exercise of parental authority
This form must be sent by registered letter without notice of receipt, in 3 copies, to the Chief Registrar of the court of the child's domicile.
Who shall I contact
The form must be accompanied by the following documents:
- Full copy of the child's birth certificate, possibly accompanied by the child's simple adoption judgment (if adopted)
- Full copy of the family booklet
- Full copy of each parent's birth certificate and copy of their identity documents
- Copy of one piece of identification for each child covered by the application (if they have one)
- Copy of last tax notice or school certificate
The Chief Registrar shall affix his visa and date to each copy of the joint declaration.
There are notify one copy to each parent, by registered letter, and one shall be retained.
Once the steps have been validated by the clerk, the father obtains the opportunity to practice parental authority with the mother as if he had recognized the child during his 1re year.
FYI
recognition is recorded on the child's birth certificate and family record book. As a result, the link between paternal filiation is established.
Disagreement with mother
The father can go to Jaf and ask to exercise his rights and duties towards the child, in common with the mother.
The request can be made using the following form or by free mail:
Application to the family judge (parental authority, right of access, maintenance...)
If the request is made by post, the father must provide the following information:
- His surname, forenames, date and place of birth, address
- Surname, forenames, date and place of birth, address of mother
The application must be filed in the court of the child's domicile.
Who shall I contact
The Jaf may accept or refuse the application based on the best interests of the child.
If the Jaf accepts his request, the father gets the opportunity to practice parental authority with the mother as if he had recognized the child during his 1re year.
FYI
recognition is recorded on the child's birth certificate and on the family record book. Therefore, the link of parental filiation is established.
Who can help me?
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