Unmarried couple- best approach to birth cert

I'm an unmarried father myself with a corp law degree and a masters.

In relation to birth certs, putting both names down is best for an unmarried couple.

If you intend to get married at a later date then you can apply to have the child legitimised under the 1923 Legitimacy Act. There have been a number of cases brought under constitiutional law via unmarried fathers but the courts have upheld legitimate discrimination on constitutional grounds and this probably won;t change without the Oireachtas approaching the issue.

In short, your name on the birth cert does not grant any legal rights per se but you can apply via such to be appointed a guardian which would carry rights. The only right that you really have as an unmarried father is that the child cannot leave the jurisdiction without your express permission.

Are there any practical benefits to 'legitimising' a child? Our first child was born before we were married, he was given our (now) married name (my husband's) as his surname and I was listed as his mother with my maiden name. We were told at the time that if/when we got married we could get a new birth cert with me listed with my married name instead of my maiden name. I presumed this was to spare the child the 'shame' of having to show a birth cert with unmarried parents on it. We never got around to doing it (14/15 years ago) and I don't think he or we care what's on his birth cert. But what's this 'legitimising'? Do we need to do anything about that?

You do nothing. Your child was automatically legitimised when you 2 got married.
As for benefits of legitimisation, if anything happened to your husband god forbid, your son would have problems getting anything from his estate if you 2 were unmarried.

That's is actually incorrect. A child is not automatically legitimised by virtue of the parents getting married, you do have to fill in a form and send it in.

The difference is in the absence of a will expressly bestowing the estate onto your child, legitimate children have more right to the estate than illegitimate children and could feasibly sue for the entire estate.
To cover all your bases and to avoid any trouble later on down the line I would apply. You can actually get the form off http://www.irlgov.ie (www.irlgov.ie)

As for changing the birth cert, that cannot be done. You can apply to have an amendment made to a birth cert issued but the original stays on public record.

SetantaL said:

That's is actually incorrect. A child is not automatically legitimised by virtue of the parents getting married, you do have to fill in a form and send it in.

The difference is in the absence of a will expressly bestowing the estate onto your child, legitimate children have more right to the estate than illegitimate children and could feasibly sue for the entire estate.
To cover all your bases and to avoid any trouble later on down the line I would apply. You can actually get the form off http://www.irlgov.ie (www.irlgov.ie)

As for changing the birth cert, that cannot be done. You can apply to have an amendment made to a birth cert issued but the original stays on public record.

Click to expand...

Any idea where that form is?

Have had a good look and can't locate it.

Ta

Simply from the childs point of view, as stated previously, it may save some headaches later down the line (is it really my father? why isn't he down? etc). It does seem a slightly complicated situation so be sure your happy with whatever route you do decide to take.

I was under the impression that since the Status of Children Act, 1987 there could be no discrimination between marital and non marital children for the purposes of succession.

SetantaL said:

The difference is in the absence of a will expressly bestowing the estate onto your child, legitimate children have more right to the estate than illegitimate children and could feasibly sue for the entire estate.

Click to expand...

Does this mean that illegitimate children would be assessed for inheritance tax?

This is possibly going off on a tangent as it does not relate directly to the original posters question, but does anyone know whether the birth registration form is a statutory form ? I would imagine it is.

If this was the case then presumably there is some onus (possibly legal) on whoever is filling in the form not to withold information or provide false information - just like for a passport application, or an income tax return.

I know in practice there many reasons why some people may not fill in the form with the correct fathers details, but it would be interesting to know whether this was likely to be illegal or not.

As I say, this does not reflect on the original posters question.

z

Purple - I understgand that the term 'illegitimate children' has no legal standing these days and to be honest is a pretty awful term to use in my opinion.

All children are legitimate - until they become adults and then they are legitimate adults. There is no such thing as an illegitimate adult, is there ?

z

zag said:

Purple - I understgand that the term 'illegitimate children' has no legal standing these days and to be honest is a pretty awful term to use in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I agree. I used it only because it is the term used on this thread.

Ok Nomatter what the situation unless the father is abusive,violent and there are extinuating circumstances the child should be given the fathers name on the birth cert. I feel strongly about this because My husband was born out of wedlock and given his mothers name on his birth certificate.A year later his parents got married and had 7 other children. Growing up everyone considered my husband Houlihan his fathers name but when he went to school, had to get a passport among other things he had to go by Walsh and this caused alot of confusion for himself and other people him often getting teased in school that he didnt have a father ect. Children can be cruel without even realizing how cruel they are being. Emotionally this has affected my husband and and he often has wondered if there was some reason why he does not have his fathers name. He even went through a stage where he thought his father didnt love him as much as his siblings which is not the case but it did efect him.
Also,when we were getting married and we sent out invites some guest who wouldnt have known us that well Parents friends,aunts distant cousins ect who our familys felt had to be invited didnt realize who was getting married as on the invites we listed my husband by Walsh which is his legal name and what we had to get married under and some people didnt even reply because they didnt realize who was getting married to afterwards.Still everyone knows us as the Houilans but legally we are Walsh's.Just a very confusing situation all around just because he wasnt given his fathers name on birth cert and they to were of the misunderstanding that when they got married he would automatically be a Houlihan which is so not true.

Also on the same subject my husband was with another woman for 10 years and in that time they had 2 children this was long before we got together btw.She being the way she is a subject for a different page refused to even put his name on the childrens birthcertificate and insisted they took her name. My husband didnt argue with her as he assumed they would get married and that would be rectified However after 10 years and 3 proposals turned down they still werent married and they seperated.
He still got to spend time with his daughters everyday and was a mojor part of their lives until we got together as soon as we got together she refused to let him see his daughters. A case of I dont want him but noone else can have him. He did everything he could to see his daughters but it wasnt to be so he had to take court actions. Where we found out that he had no rights to his children he is there father for crying out loud how can he have no rights. Thats the way it was if a father isnt named on the birthcertificate they have no rights as a guardian.If anything happens to the child it would go to emergency foster care before it goes to their father. We got married as that was a rule the judge had he couldnt be living with me and have access to his children he had to be married.
He now has guardianship and access but still never gets to see his daughters although they want to see him their mother wont let it and basically tells the girls that they have to choose between himself and her which is totally wrong but they way it is and without going back to court again he wont get to see them. He is wary of doing that as the judges tend to decide with the mothers in this situation. I am sorry I as well went a bit off the original topic but my point is unless the fathers name is on the cert. if god forbid anything happend to yourself even married he would have no rights your child so if you are in a solid relationship and getting married anyhow give your child his name. Then thats just my oppion