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National Directory of Putative Father Registries
Erik L. Smith
Readers should not rely on this summary for legal advice. I strongly advise you to contact an attorney in the state relevant to you for the details, requirements, consequences, obligations, and considerations concerning signing that state’s putative father registry.
A "putative father" is a biological father who was not married to the child's mother before the child was born and has not legally established paternity.
Call the respective office or department to verify the information before sending or requesting any forms, documents, or materials. This information is accurate to the best of my knowledge. If you find that any information is incorrect, please send corrections and updates to me using this email form.
Relevant U.S. Supreme Court Cases
- Lehr v. Robertson, 463 U.S. 248 (1983)
- Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645 (1972)
- Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246 (1978)
- Caban v. Mohammed, 441 U.S. 380 (1979)
Statute: Section 26-10C-1.
See: http://www.dhr.state.al.us/page.asp?pageid=1175
Obtain form from, and return form to:
Office of Adoption
Department of Human Resources
50 N. Ripley St.
Montgomery, AL 36130-4000
Tel: 334-242-9500 (ask for office of adoption)
Arizona
See: http://www.azdhs.gov/vitalrcd/amend_03.htm
Obtain form from, and return form to:
Arizona Department of Health Services
Office of Vital Records
P.O. Box 3887
Phoenix, AZ 85030
Tel: 602-364-1300
Lack of knowledge of the pregnancy is not an acceptable reason for failure to file. 8-106.01(F).
Requires registrant claim paternity and signify intent to support the child.
Notarization required. Cost: $5.00
Statutes: Arkansas Code Ann. sec. 9-9-224
See: http://comp.uark.edu/~ksampson/putative_father_registry.html
Obtain form from, and return completed form to:
Legal Section/Vital Records
4815 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205-3867
Tel: 501-661-2275
Fax: 501-661-2869.
Original Notarization required. So mail back, do not fax back. Cost: $5.00
Statutes: Tit. 13, § 8-402. "Registry of Paternity"
417 Federal St.
Dover, DE 19901
Division of Public Health
P.O. Box 637
Dover, DE 19903
302-739-4721
A timely registration does not commence a proceeding to establish paternity. Tit. § 8-411(2)
Services to assist in establishing paternity are available to the registrant through the support-enforcement agency. Tit. § 8-411(4)
The registrant should also register in another State if conception or birth of the child occurred in the other state. Tit. § 8-411(5)
Office of Vital Statistics.
Notarization required: Yes. Cost: None.
Florida
Chapter 63, particularly 63.053-054 Florida Statutes
ATTN: Putative father registry. Office of Vital Statistics; P.O. Box 210; Jacksonville, FL 32231 Tel: 904-359-6900 ext. 1086.
Comments: Florida's registry laws are extremely hostile. The registry is not truly a putative father registry because it requires a claim of paternity (as opposed to a statement that one may be a father) under oath even where the father lacks knowledge of a pregnancy. Also, one must register before the adoption petition is filed, which can be as early as the third day after birth. Moreover, even a father who is listed on the birth certificate, attended the birth, and has lived with and supported the mother has no rights unless he registers (unless the child is six months or more old). In addition, the registry must be advertised, which from all appearances is hardly being done. Like Utah's statutory scheme, Florida's registry is truly meant to eliminate the father mom doesn't want.
For other commentary see: www.aoptionplacement.com.
Fee: Claim Form ($9.00 fee). Update Claim Form (no fee for updating info). Search Form ($9.00 fee).
A father will receive a letter of confirmation if he needs a certified registry result (for his own claim). The father would then need to request the search.
Notarization required: Yes. Forms: DH1965.PDF, DH1964.PDF, DH1963.PDF.
Forms can also be obtained from the state's website at: www.doh.state.fl.us/planning_eval/vital_statistics/Putative.htm.
Georgia
Statute: 15-11-2 and 19-11-9
Putative Father Registry Registration Form (no. 3960) can be obtained from a county Vital Records registrars office, county Health Department, county Probate Judges office, or the state office of Vital Records. Tel: 404-679-4701.
Form is available on www.health.state.ga.us/programs/vitalrecords/fatherregprint.shtml.
Otherwise contact:
Registry
Vital Records
47 Trinity Avenue, SW
Room 217H
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-5600
Tel: 404-657-4121
Fax: 404-651-9427
Public Information Office at 404-651-9385.
Mail or fax completed form to:
Putative Father Registry
Vital Records
2600 Skyland Dr. NE
Atlanta, GA 30319-3640
Tel: 404-679-4701 or 404-679-4780
Fax: 404-679-4730
The putative father is encouraged to register as soon as possible after engaging in the sexual relationship that could result in the birth of a child, preferably registering before the birth. 15-11-83(i)(3).
Statutes: Idaho Code: 16.1513
Information asnd link to form (http://idahobirthfathersrights.intuitwebsites.com/)
Get form from and return form to:
Vital Statistics Unit
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
450 W. State St., 1st Floor
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0036
Tel: 208-334-5988
One may obtain a form also from: the office of the county clerk in any Idaho County.
Notarization required. Cost: $10.00. Additional filing: Fill out a Notice of Claim of Paternity and register it with the Vital Statistics Unit of the Department of Health and Welfare, and a notice of your claim of paternity to the child born out-of-wedlock, and your willingness and intent to support the child to the best of your ability.
Fill out a Registration Form, sign it, checkmark the certification box at the end of the form and personally deliver or mail it to the Registry.
Obtain the form from: www.putativefather.org (print form out, complete, sign, and mail the form in.)
Return form to:
The Illinois Putative Father
10 W. 35th Street, Suite 9F7-1
Chicago, IL 60616
Tel: 312-808-9040 or 1-866-737-3237Fax: 312-808-9052 or 312-808-9061
Web site: www.putativefather.org
(The father must mail or personally deliver the completed form to the registry office—not fax. The father is considered registered only after the registry office receives the form.)
See: www.state.il.us/dcfs/adoption/a_adoption_putative.shtml
Father must start legal proceedings to establish paternity within 30 days of registering with the Putative Father Registry. Call 1-800-447-4278 to inquire about the paternity proceeding after registering.
Cost: None
Statutes: IC 31-19-9-12 and IC 31-19-5
Obtain the form from and return the form to:
Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Tel: 317-233-1325
Fax: 317-233-1289
Registration forms are available through the State Department of Health or any clerk of a circuit court, branch office of the bureau of motor vehicles, hospital, or local health department.
Submit a registration form by personal delivery, fax, mail, private courier, or express delivery.
Notarization required. Cost: None indicated.
Statutes: Iowa Code Ann. § 144.12A & 600A.6
Obtain the form from, and return the form to:
Bureau of Vital Records
Paternity Registry
Lucas State Office Building
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
Tel: 515-281-6263
Cost: None. Notarization required.
Statutes: LSA - R.S. 9:400
Obtain form from:
State of Louisiana
Department of Health and Hospitals
Office of Public Health
Vital Records Registry
P.O. Box 60630
New Orleans, LA 70160-0630
Return form to:
Putative Father Registry
P.O. Box 60630
New Orleans, LA 70160
Tel: 504-568-5152
Notarization required. Cost: None. Additional filing: Certified copy of paternity or filiation judgment, or of legitimation.
Statutes: Mass. Code: Ch. 210. Sec. 4A
"Parental Responsibility Claim Form"
Get form from, and return form to:
Mary Rubefetti
Parental Claim Registrar
Office of the General Counsel
Department of Social Services
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210
Tel: 617-748-2011 or 617-748-2000
Cost: None indicated. Notarization required
Comment: This is not a true putative father registry because the form is a paternity claim. After the date you mail in the form, the claimant (dad) has 30 days to petition for adoption or custody of the child in Probate court. Mom may be notified of the filing of the parental responsibility claim form.
Statutes: Michigan Adoption Code. MCL 710.33
Form: DCH 0738. The form is a "notice of intent to claim paternity."
Get form from and return form to:
Central Father Registry
Michigan Department of Community Health
Office of Vital Records & Health Statistics
3423 N. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Lansing, MI 48906
Tel. 517-335-9334 or 517-335-8666 or 517-373-3740
See also: http://courts.michigan.gov/mji/resources/adoption/appendices/AppD.pdf
See also: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Parentage_10872_7.pdf for an "affidavit of parentage" that can be filled out jointly by the mother and putative father.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf 517-373-3573.
Notarization required. Cost: $10.00
Minnesota
Statutes: Minn. Stat. sec. 259.52
Obtain the form from: www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/registry/registrationform.pdf or from:
Minnesota Department of Health
Center for Health Statistics
717 Delaware St., S.E.
P.O. Box 9441
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9441
Tel: 1-888-345-1726
Return the form to:
Father’s Adoption registry
Minnesota Department of Health
717 Delaware St., S.E.
P.O. Box 9441
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9441
Notarization not required. Cost: None indicated
Ignorance of the pregnancy is no excuse for not signing the registry. The sexual act itself lets the adoption proceed without the putative father’s consent if has not signed the registry within 30 days after the child’s birth or has not otherwise legally established fatherhood. Minn. Stat. sec. 259.52(8) (1999).
Obtain form from, and return form to
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Bureau of Vital Records
ATTN Putative Father Registry
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0570
Tel: 573-522-3233 or 573-751-6400 or 573-526-1537
Filing deadline appears to be 15 days after birth, or if the mother misleads or defrauds the father, 15 days after discovering the fraud or misrepresentation. Registration constitutes an "Intent to Claim Paternity" or "Acknowledgment of Paternity". One may file before the birth. A man should file if "may" be a father.
See also:
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BirthAndDeathRecords/PutativeFatherRegistry-Pamphlet04.pdf, http://www.dhss.missouri.gov/BirthAndDeathRecords/putative.html
Notarization required. Cost: None indicated.
Statutes: 42-2-201 et seq.
Obtain forms from either the Department of Public Health and Human Services (see address below), the clerk of the district court’s office, or the local health department. Or you may simply print or type on a plain piece of paper the following information:
- Your full legal name
- Social Security Number
- Birth date
- If you are Indian, the tribe(s) with which you are affiliated
- Address at which you want legal notices to be sent
- If above address is not your address, name of the person at this address to whom the notice should be sent
- Legal name of the mother of the child
- Any other names she may use
- Her Social Security Number, if known
- Her birth date, if known
- Her address, if known
- Child’s name, if known
- Location (City/State) of child’s birth, if known
- Location (City/State) and date of possible conception of child.
See: www.dphhs.state.mt.us/services/applications_forms/putative_father_registry.htm
Mail, fax, or deliver the registration information to:
Bureau of Vital Statistics
Department of Public Health and Human Services
111 N. Sanders, Room 205
Helena, MT 59620
Tel: 406-444-4228Fax: 406-444-1803
The form must be received no later than 72 hours after the child’s birth. Actual knowledge of the pregnancy or birth is not required to file a form with the registry.
Notarization required. Cost: None indicated.
"Biological Father Registry" Neb. Rev. Stats: sec. 43-104.01 & 02
Obtain form from:
Nebraska Health and Human Services System
Department of Finance and Support
Vital Statistics Section
P.O. Box 95065
Lincoln, NE 68509-5065
Return form to:
Vital Statistics Section
Paternity Registry
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Finance and Support
301 Centennial Mall South, 3rd Floor
P.O. Box 95065
Lincoln, NE 68509-5065.
Signature witness required. Cost: None indicated.
Statutes: 32A-5-20; & 7.2.2 NMAC & Health Statistics
Bureau of Vital Records
New Mexico Health Services
POB 26110
Santa Fe, NM, 87502
Tel: 505-827-2338 (hold for operator)
Cost: None.
Statutes: § 372-c Social Services Law; § 4-1.2 Estate, Powers, & Trusts.
Obtain form from, and return from to:
New York State Office of Children and Family Services / PFR
Capital View Office Park
52 Washington St., Rm. 323 North
Rensselaer, N.Y. 12144-2796
Tel: 518-402-1639
Forms also available at http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/adopt.
Notarization required. Cost: None.
Ohio
Obtain Registration Form (OHDS 1694) from, and return it by personal delivery or mail to:
Ohio Putative Father Registry
255 East Main St., 3rd Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-5222
Tel: 1-888-313-3100 or 614-466-9274
Fax: 614-728-2604
Notarization required. Cost: None.
Ignorance of the pregnancy is no excuse for not signing the registry. The sexual act itself lets the adoption proceed without the putative father’s consent if he has not signed the registry within 30 days after the child’s birth or legally established fatherhood. O.R.C. 3107.061, & 3107(B).
The form for fathers is also available at www.odjfs.state.oh.us/forms/pdf/01694.pdf.
Statutes: §10-7506-1.1. (Centralized Paternity Registry)
Contact: Paternity Registry of the Department of Human Services 405-522-5871.
Obtain form from website: www.oscn.net/Forms/DHS_Forms/MicrosoftWord/dhsform.doc
Return form to:
Oklahoma Department of Human Services - Adoptions
P.O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
Statutes: 109.094, 109.225
The putative father must first file with the court a petition to establish paternity, which requires information about the mother. Then the putative father files form 45-115 with the department of Vital Records. Get the form from and return the form to:
Vital records
P.O. Box 14050
Portland, OR 97923-0050
Tel: 503-731-4492
(This address differs from the return address listed on the form itself. Either address will work, but the above address is specific to the vital records registry itself)
Contact: Center for Health Statistics of the Health Division of the Department of Human Resources 503-945-5944. Salem, OR
Telephone: 888-322-9519
Register online at:
https://ssL.sc.gov/DSSFatherRegistry/FatherReg/RegIndex.aspx
Obtain form from, and return form to:
Registrar
Putative Father Registry
Tennessee Department of Children’s Services
Cordell Hull Building-8th Floor
436 Sixth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243-1290
Tel: 615-741-9699 or 615-532-5637
See also form online at www.state.tn.us/youth/adoption/NOTICE04.pdf.
"Paternity Registry" Statutes: Tex. Fam. Code Ann. sec. 160.251 et seq.
Forms are available from hospitals, birthing centers, licensed child-placing agencies, county and district clerks, and the Bureau of Vital Statistics. (See following address.)
Return the form to:
Bureau of Vital Statistics
Texas Department of Health
1100 West 49th
Austin, TX 78756
Tel: 1-888-963-7111 ext 7782 or 512-458-7782.
Notarization required. Cost: None
Statutes: Utah Code Ann. 78-30-4.14(2)(b)(ii-iii)
Obtain form from, and return form to:
State of Utah
Department of Health
Office of Public Health Data
Bureau of Vital Records
288 North 1460 West
P.O. Box 141012
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1012
Tel: 801-538-6380 or 801-538-6363
Notarization required.
Note: The form is actually a “notice of commencement of paternity proceeding.” But the statute functions like a putative father registry statute.
Statutes: 15A V.S.A. § 1-110 , 2-401, and 2-402. Form is a "notice of intent to retain parental rights" and may be filed with any probate court in Vermont.
Statutes: Article 7 (§ 63.2-1222 and 1249 et seq.)
Obtain form from, and return form to:
Virginia Department of Social Services
Attention: Putative Father Registry
7 N. Eighth St.
Richmond, VA 23219
Tel: 877-433-2339 or 804-726-7524 or 1-804-726-7528
Obtain form also from: www.dss.virginia.gov/family/ap/putative_registry.cgi
Notarization not required. Cost: None.
"Father Registry" Statutes: 1-22-117
Obtain form from, and return form to:
Department of Family Services
Adoption Services
Hathaway Bldg. 3rd Floor
2300 Capitol Ave.
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: 307-777-3570 or 307-347-6181
Notarization required. Cost: None indicated.
Erik L. Smith is a certified paralegal in Columbus, Ohio and an independent legal researcher for family law and personal injury attorneys. He has appeared on NPR, CNN, and PBS regarding adoption law and has published several of his articles on the internet and in hard copy publications such as Ohio Lawyer, Air Force Law Review, Probate Law Journal of Ohio, Adoption Today, and Midwifery Today.