hi guys. just looking for some advice. my sons father is not listed on his birth certificate because he lives overseas so i couldnt get him to sign it. when i registered my sons birth i had his fathers details on it but because theres no signature hes details had to be left off. i had to submit a letter stating why i couldnt get him to sign it.
my questions are now - as i now have a form that he can sign when i do see him for the birth certificate, but because im classed as a single parent through centrelink what happens there??
(i class myself as a single parent - as i raise my son and support my son myself).
the other thing i was concerned about is in 5 years time when i need to re new my sons passport and i cant get his father to sign the passport form and if his on the birth certificate how do i get my sons passport renewed???
has anyone had any experience with this???
i really do want to add his signature for my sons sake for the future - im just concerned regarding later on if i cant get signatures etc as his father is a resisdent from overseas (classed as third world country).
thank you.
child birth certificate and signature from the father
child birth certificate and signature from the father
Posted in:
Relationships & Marriage, Kids
9 Replies
Can you post any necessary forms to your son's father? I had to do this for my husband as I gave birth in a different country to where we were living. Now in Australia, my husband is not a citizen, all my children have and have had Australian passports that my husband signed the applications for. He doesn't need to be Australian to sign the form, nor does he even need to be a resident, he's signing as a parent not a country representative.
Many children of single parents have both patents on their birth certificates. Your child's birth certificate is not what classifies you as a single parent, unless your childs father and you begin a relationship that involves shared finances and living arrangements you would still be a single parent.
i have the form for him to sign as i already have my childs birth certificate. i would rather do it in person as the mail there isnt trustworthy.
im just concerned if later on down the track i cant contact him for signature what happens there??
and how do i go with centrelink as im already on it? or it doesnt have anything to do with that???
my son has a passport already. im just concerned if communication gets cut how will i get his passport etc renewed??
Best to ask those questions to the passport office, but I think you'd end up having to go to court if you can't contact him, for passport renewals.
There are certain schools that won't enroll children without both signatures too, and even if you had to homeschool for some reason you'd need fathers signature.
If mail etc is slow and unreliable I wouldn't even consider adding him at this stage
It shouldn't have anything to do with centrelink. It's really up to you if you want to add him or not to the birth cert. It could make things more difficult if you want everything signed in person, though I understand why you do. Equally if your child ever wants to claim citizenship in his father's country it would be very difficult without father's name on birth cert (not that this sounds likely).
Give the office of Births Deaths & Marriages and/or the passport office a call and ask - good on you for seeking info.
I personally wouldn't add him to the BC. Getting passports and enrolling your child in certain activities and particular schools can be a nightmare.
I know it looks lovely on the forms and all to not have the 'unknown' but practically speaking it creates all sorts of problems.
If I was going to get him to sign something, there is a special statutory declaration called 'parental acknowledgement'.
I'd check out legally, how long you have to get the name on the BC, if it can be done when your son is 18, that's when I'd do it!
sorry im a first time mum :), what is a parental acknowledgement declaration?? what is involved in that.
It's a form that I was given by my community lawyer.
Personally I'd get legal advice before getting him to sign anything. It was the smartest thing I ever did.
Contrary to some people's opinion it's not illegal not to have a father on the BC and it doesn't stop a father having visitation, custody of a child.
having an absentee father on the BC can create a whole world of extra stress in being able to live your lives.
It turned out I had to make a number of decisions for my son that would usually require two parents, luckily his father wasn't on the BC in our case. My son would have missed some big opportunities.
However you have to way that up against any perceived psychological effect of having unknown on a BC. My son has only looked at his BC a handful of times in his life (he is 23 years old), knows who his father is (even though they haven't met), and it's never caused him any issues. I suppose in the 1950s it would have been a big deal.
Is your sons father completely uninvolved? If so I wouldn't bother with it. If he's on the birth certificate he may actually need to sign for more than a passport. I.e. school forms and even some medical forms may need to be signed by both of you.
If he is involved, even if it's only a sporadic phone call now and again you may actually have to.
At the end of the day putting it on there just for the sake of it (or because you don't like that it says 'unknown') isn't the most sensible choice. You need to think about how it will affect you in a practical sense.
GAWD, save yourself the nightmare and leave it as it is!!!! Do anything to avoid court!