[ProudMommyof2]

My husband's name is on the birth certificate as being the father. The child was born in Alabama. Well now the mother & the child live in Georgia. We want to file for visitation but Georgia says he has to legitimize the child first.

The county clerk has been very unhelpful about all of this. We're pretty sure this can be done with out a lawyer. Does any one have any advice?

Also, if we know the mother's city of residence but not her address, what can we do?

Thanks

[stevetcg]

You go to the presiding court and file for joint custody and visitation. As a matter of the proceeding, they will order a DNA test which will establish paternity.

Of course, the mother will counterfile for support.

As for getting her address... private investigator? Google? Might try the town clerk's office...

[s_cianci]

Not sure I know what you mean by "legitimize the child." I would guess that it means establishing paternity to Georgia's satisfaction, as the child was born in and the birth certificate was issued by Alabama. How was paternity established, anyhow? Was a DNA test performed? If so, then presenting the results of that may suffice. Was an affidavit of paternity signed? If so, then you'd want to present that. Also, the county clerk is not in a position to give you legal advice. (S)he can tell you where to go to get your questions answered and can advise you as to filing procedures and what not. But for actual legal advice you need to talk to a lawyer, one familiar with family law in Georgia.

[ProudMommyof2]

I have another question on this issue. If the mother has the original birth certificate which does not list my husband as the father, can she and her husband have the child legitimized as his child?

We can not afford to get a lawyer until next month.

[stevetcg]

Not legally she cant. If she tries, your husband would just file for paternity as before but this time mention perjury (falsifying a government document). That will work against her pretty hard.

[ProudMommyof2]

Okay, I wanted to be sure. Thanks.

[AdviceseekerGA]

Hi. I'm not sure if you are still needing information on this or not, but GA's laws on legitimizing a child are that the father has to file for legitimation with the clerk of court in the county that the child resides in. You can file the papers yourself, you can usually find a generic PDF file online, then modify it yourself is MS Word with the correct county & names & such. Your husband should get a copy of the birth certificate from the state the child was born in. If he is NOT listed on the birth certificate, he will not be able to get it. He will have to file for paternity first. In my case, my husband is on the original birth certificate, so we are not going through that part. When you have the papers complete, file them at the clerk of court. The packet I found is for Cobb county, but has very through instructions. If the mother of the child consents to the legitimation, it will be faster and cheaper on you. You can have her meet your husband at the court and sign the consent in front of the clerk. At that point, you only have to pay filing fees & the judge could approve it that day. If she doesn't, she'll have to be served with papers {at your expense} and then you will have to go to court. I believe everything would be at your expense. I haven't gotten that far in our battle yet, so that is all that I have for you. Good luck!!

[Babycakes10]

What if the dads name not on the birth certificate but u want to put his on know the child 6