House Bill 158

Chair's Name: Wendell Willard

Committee: Judiciary Civil

House Sponsor: Wendell Willard

HB 158 sets out a process for fathers of children born out of wedlock to voluntarily legitimate the child before the child is a year old. Section 1 of the bill defines “legal father”, sets out the voluntary legitimation process, and describes the circumstances when this process can or cannot take place. Subsequent sections detail the process when a father is petitioning for legitimation, challenging the paternity of the current legal father.

This committee substitute comes to the House Floor under the Modified Structured Rule.

Chairman Willard’s opinion of the legislation:

DHR and the Office of Vital Records advocated the bill to facilitate voluntary/administrative legitimation of children, for the dual purposes of (1) complying with federal standards that link certain federal programs to the number of children born out of wedlock for whom paternity is determined or who are legitimated within one year, and (2) increasing the number of fathers who are identified for children, for child support and other reasons.

This legislation:

•        Strengthens our Traditional Family Structure by increasing the number of fathers who are active in their childrens’ lives and financial support, even when the child is born out of wedlock.

•        Reduces the Tax Burden on our Citizens by promoting voluntary legitimation, which could decrease the need for expensive, adversarial legitimation court proceedings, and increases the number of fathers who are identified, which facilitates parents paying child support, rather than burdening government services with a larger number of children being raised in a single-parent family with no identified father.

•        Increases Personal Responsibility by encouraging fathers to legitimate their children.