Q&A By John T. Syrtash, Associate,
Garfin Zeidenberg LLP, a Toronto family law lawyer for the past 38 years
What if the Birth Certificate has the wrong father on it?
Question: My boyfriend’s name appears on my son’s birth certificate even though he is not the father. We are no longer together. What are his rights, and how do I get him off the certificate?
Answer: I assume that the gentleman is not co-operative. Your boyfriend may have bonded with the boy emotionally. If that is the case, it may not matter much that he is not the biological father of the child. So it’s not so easy to dismiss a claim for access by a “psychological dad.” On the other hand, if the gentleman was doing you a favour at the time and has no bond with the child, you can take the following steps, assuming he doesn’t oppose it. Get a court order for DNA through cheek swab tests. Then get a court order to declare he is not the father and then have the birth certificate amended with the Registrar of Ontario.
John Syrtash is an associate and family law lawyer with the Toronto firm of GARFIN ZEIDENBERG LLP.
Neither GARFIN ZEIDENBERG LLP nor John Syrtash is liable for any consequences arising from anyone’s reliance on this material, presented as general information and not as a legal opinion.
John T. Syrtash,
Associate
GARFIN ZEIDENBERG LLP
Yonge-Norton Centre
5255 Yonge Street, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2N 6P4
Cell: (416) 886-0359
Fax: (416) 512-9992
email: [email protected]
www.freemychild.com www.garfinzeidenberg.com
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