Declaration of parentage.

thesim

Hi all,

Hope I'm posting this in the correct place.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of doing a Declaration of Parentage?

Basically, my parents were never married and my dad wasn't present when registering my birth (parents didn't realise he would need to be). As a result, my dad's name is not on my birth certificate.

Roll forward 30 years, my mum passed away a while ago, and me and my dad have been talking and wanted to add him to my birth certificate. However, talking to the registry office and solicitors, it seems to be a very costly process as my mums death complicates it.

So I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar position and sorted it themselves, as solicitors fees as doubling the cost. :eek:

Many thanks

TBagpuss

What are your reasons for wanting to add him? depending on what you want to achieve there may be other options which would be simpler / easier.

thesim

Just so that if anything were to happen to either of us, the other can prove we are related. I have no siblings, and I'm not in contact with my mums family. So he is my NOK, and also who I would leave any assets (none at present) too. We have different surnames due to parents not being married, so it would be just our word unless he is on my birth certificate.

Ms_Chocaholic

thesim wrote: »

Just so that if anything were to happen to either of us, the other can prove we are related. I have no siblings, and I'm not in contact with my mums family. So he is my NOK, and also who I would leave any assets (none at present) too. We have different surnames due to parents not being married, so it would be just our word unless he is on my birth certificate.

A will would solve the issues you mention.

Also unless you are unwell, you are likely to outlive your dad so you will need to come up with a solution as to who to leave your assets to in the long-term, even if it is the local cats home.

pearl123

thesim wrote: »

Hi all,

Hope I'm posting this in the correct place.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of doing a Declaration of Parentage?

Basically, my parents were never married and my dad wasn't present when registering my birth (parents didn't realise he would need to be). As a result, my dad's name is not on my birth certificate.

Roll forward 30 years, my mum passed away a while ago, and me and my dad have been talking and wanted to add him to my birth certificate. However, talking to the registry office and solicitors, it seems to be a very costly process as my mums death complicates it.

So I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar position and sorted it themselves, as solicitors fees as doubling the cost. :eek:

Many thanks

Whatever you do make sure you have good wills!

McKneff

Have you thought of changing your surname to his, as well as making a will

JayJay100

Perhaps a DNA test and statement of wishes, so there could be no doubt. Or a decent will.

pearl123

Out of curiousity how expensive?

TonyMMM

Your birth could've been re-registered at any time, and at no cost, to add your father whilst your mother was alive but sadly that opportunity has now gone.

The only way to get him added now would be to apply for a court order, for which you will need evidence of him being your father (probably DNA).

You can apply yourself, but I would approach a local solicitor for some idea of the likely costs first.

TBagpuss

thesim wrote: »

Just so that if anything were to happen to either of us, the other can prove we are related. I have no siblings, and I'm not in contact with my mums family. So he is my NOK, and also who I would leave any assets (none at present) too. We have different surnames due to parents not being married, so it would be just our word unless he is on my birth certificate.

OK, in that case, make sure you both have wills.

You can change your name to his if you wish, so you have that connection.

It would make sense for him to consider having a Power of Attorney (Health and Welfare) which would take effect if he was unable to make decisions for himself, and which could appoint you to make those decisions for him.

Going to court probably wouldn't be massively expensive as there would (from the sound of it) be no opposition, but you would probably need DNA tests (It's possible they might accept other evidence such as your dad's statements, and documents either of you have such as letters or diaries of your mum's etc)
If you do need DNA tests, these would have to be from one of the labs licensed by the Home Office -
I am not sure what the cost would be but probably a couple of hundred pounds, the court fee for the application would be another £350 or so then you'd have any costs for a lawyer, on top of that.

If it's not desperately important to you to have the name on the birth certificate then it probably makes better sense to go down the wills & PoA route, since those are things that it would be appropriate to do as well, even if the certificate was changed!

PasturesNew

A Will is the easiest route to go - with the Will stating that you are his natural child.

If you do nothing and he dies - then you can't claim his estate without a Will as you're not his next of kin. Instead, heirhunters would be looking for his bloodline to inherit. In the meantime you'd be grubbing around trying to find evidences of living with him "as his son" for your lifetime to present a case to the court that his estate should go to you ... and, while you'd stand a good chance of being awarded it, it's not 100% assured and it's a lot of hassle.

Better to do "something" now. Soonest. Don't put it off, like your mother did.