Removing 'father' from birth certificate

[VivienneWestwoodsKnickers]

Proper Jeremy Kyle story. Long so as to avoid drip feeding.

DP has an ex with whom he thought he'd fathered a daughter. All lovely, until it transpired the ex had had several affairs with multiple men in the month or so before she discovered she was pregnant.

DP decides to stay with her and raise the child with her as his own. Ex then decides she's leaving him for another man when daughter is 3 months old.

DP does home kit DNA test (not the ones the court will recognise), and daughter is not his. He is devastated.

Ex buggers off, leaving distraught DP to drink himself into the ground for the next year.

Fast forward 4 years, and ex contacts me our of the blue via Facebook (she knows through social media we're together, I was best friends with DP for 18 years before we started a relationship) to demand, and I mean demand, that DP pay for a new DNA test so that she can have the wee girl adopted by ex's new partner.

DP and I discussed it, did some homework and decided the best thing for him was to come off the birth certificate altogether, then ex can do whatever she wants. Ex is happy with this, but demands we pay for it. We offer to pay half. She refuses to respond, blocks us on Facebook and ignores all attempts to contact her.

We can't really afford a lawyer - the one I contacted wants £260/hour to talk to us!!

I am happy to present in court as I do criminal court work in my day job, but am not au fait with family law or family courts.

Google is not my friend in understanding what I need to fill in etc to get this case in front of a Family Court, to ask them to instruct (as they can't order initially) that the ex cooperate with a DNA test. It's generally considered in the interests of the child, as I understand it.

Another man has done a DNA test and was also negative. No one knows who the potential father is except the ex.

Any advice?

Hmm... I didn't think a person could be removed from the birth certificate? A dna test isn't needed for the adoption is it? Just for your dp to agree to the adoption as he has parental responsibly (I assume as he is named on the certificate).
Getting his name removed and having a dna test drive seems like a waste of money? Perhaps I'm missing something

Did you google?

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253458/How_to_apply_for_a_correction_to_remove_father_s_details-V4_2__U.pdf

Yes I've Googled, I'm very aware of the process. It's the application to begin a case at the Family Court I'm needing advice on.

^Removing the wrong father’s details
You can only apply to change who the father is if a DNA test proves (or a court order says) that the man named on the certificate isn’t the natural father.^

The reason he wants off the BC is because it is the truth of the matter - he is not and cannot be her natural father, or whatever the appropriate term is.

What if she grows up thinking he's an absent father who has abandoned her? She could come knocking at any time and want answers we simply won't be able to give, other than to say he doesn't know who actually fathered her?

If he's off the BC, the ex can do whatever she needs to without DP's permission.

We also felt it inappropriate that he give permission for her to be adopted when she's not actually his child to be able to morally give that kind of permission. What if the real father is identified?

By coming off the Birth Certificate he can't be chased for Child Maintenance (being that he isn't the biological father IYSWIM) so perhaps it's worth doing it for your own peace of mind and being able to draw a line under it.

How much is it going to cost?

I thought it was illegal to put the wrong name on the birth certificate, can't be raise it as fraud somehow?

Random no idea about cost. Between £170-270 for the court paperwork to be submitted, as far as I can see, and up to £400 for the DNA test, but I don't know whether the court can order her to pay for it, if we pay for it or if the justice system soaks it up.

Solicitors fees for court representation are likely to be out the question, but we will pay for what we need to, if we can't get to the bottom of it any other way.

Hack he was named in good faith, as it were. She could have left it blank, but he wanted to be a Dad so much, he agreed to be named without a DNA test first.

The justice system won't soak up the cost.

What you mean "demand" he pays for a new test? Just say no, what can she do? Presumably he's willing to do the test, just not cover the cost?

If he wants to be removed from the birth certificate I'd file an application (£215) along with the DNA test he already did but I'd expect to be asked to pay at least half of the court approved DNA test.

Look on YouTube for Family Court Without a Lawyer by Lucy Reed. Her videos are really helpful.

I'm not sure being on the certificate or not would have any bearing on his ex claiming maintenance. You can claim maintenance from a father that isn't on the certificate.

What an awful situation
I can't think help on the legal process but I definitely agree with you that he should look to be removed from the BC, rather than give his permission as her current legal father for the (latest man ) to adopt her. It's just not his moral place to do that, and even as a paperwork work exercise I wouldn't give permission for someone I've never met to adopt a hamster, let alone a child.

FamilyLaw that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, thank you so much! I'll get on that this weekend.

Four also very useful, thank you too. The demands were just that - she was very aggressive in her attitude, so I went back all sweetness, light and reason, just in case we had problems with her. Glad I did now!

Ellis very much my thoughts, glad it seems reasonable.

If she goes to the CSA and he disputes paternity he'd get the cost of the DNA test refunded,

The fathers name on a birth certificate is always a leap of faith.

Hi
Iv just come out of a same sex relationship. We hav a 7yr old, he's not mine biologically. I was only put on the birth certificate as a parent and didn't adopt him.
I know this may sound harsh but....can I get my name taken off the birth certificate?

If you were the civil partner of the birth mother at the time of conception, the child was conceived through artificial insemination and you agreed to this, you are legally the child's second parent. The only way this can change is if the child is adopted.

I would tell her if she is that bothered she can pay for it.
If she goes to CMS they will refund the cost of the DNA test.
Tell her to jog on

The OP's question dates back 2 years. I doubt she is still looking for answers. The thread has been revived by mitzymoomoo who was asking a new question.

If I remember correctly, you can apply through CMS to have a reduced price DNA test performed by cellmark who also carry out court ordered DNA testing, if the test proves that your DP is not the father, then the CMS don’t charge for the test, (if he was then the cost of the test is applied to any maintenance due from him) that may be sufficient for the court. I was a mckenzie friend for a friend who used his CMS DNA results to prove he was the biological father when he found out his ex had lost custody of a child that he had only found out existed when the maintenance demand turned up on the doorstep 2 years ago (child is now 7) ex had denied that she knew who father was, he found out through other channels and presented himself to social services, Child now lives with him and his fiancé.

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