If Father and Mother were married at the date of the birth, then either of them may register the birth of the child on their own and include both parents’ details.
If you, as the natural father, marry the child’s mother or form a civil partnership with her after the birth of your child, you will need to complete an application to re-register a child’s birth following the marriage or civil partnership of the natural parents form, which can be found on the HMCTS Court Services website:
If you are not married, the mother will have to agree before you are named as Father on the birth certificate. You will both need to complete this form
If Mother agrees to you being named as Father on the child’s birth certificate, a Statutory Declaration of acknowledgement of parentage form, will need to be completed.
What if Mother does not agree to Father’s name being added to the birth certificate?
You may need to make an application to the court.
If there is a dispute as to who the Father is, you will need to ask the court to make a Declaration of Parentage, which is when the court decides who the Father of the baby is. If this Order is made in your favour, the courts will notify the General Register Office and the birth will be re-registered. You will need to pay for a new birth certificate.
If Mother accepts that you are the Father, but is simply unwilling to re-register the birth, you may want to consider making an application for a Specific Issue Order and Parental Responsibility.
What if an unmarried Father dies before he is added as Father to the birth certificate?
Mother would have to apply for declaration of parentage under Section 55a of the Family Law Act 1986. In the case of Re Pook the father died suddenly, just two days after the child was born. Father did not have parental responsibility and there was no time for a statutory declaration of parentage to be prepared, so mother registered the birth without Father’s details. The parentage was not in question because of matching DNA, however Mother made an application for a declaration of parentage and the Judge made an order in her favour.
Please contact our family law team at Rowberry Morris for expert advice.