It provides the child with significant legal, financial, and emotional benefits, including:

• Legal Rights: The right of both parents to seek physical placement and legal custody.
• Financial Support: The child becomes eligible for child support, Social Security benefits, and inheritance from both parents. 
• Medical Information: Access to the father’s medical history and inclusion on the father’s health insurance.
• Identity: A formal sense of heritage and belonging.

In Wisconsin, a father’s name can be added to the birth certificate by signing a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment (VPA) form. However, while signing a VPA does establish legal paternity, signing a VPA does not grant the father any rights other than determining he is the legal father. If the parties do not sign a VPA, paternity must be established through a court order.

Paternity can still be established after a father’s death through a court action. This often involves:

• DNA Paternity Testing: Using samples from the deceased (if available), the paternal grandparents, or other close relatives.
• Evidence of Acknowledgment: Providing proof that the father openly held the child out as his own during his lifetime. Establishing paternity in these cases is vital for a child to claim survivor benefits or inheritance.

Navigating a posthumous paternity claim? Contact Herrling Clark Law Firm to discuss the necessary evidentiary steps.

Yes. Establishing paternity is the legal prerequisite for child support. A court cannot order a man to pay support until he is legally declared the father. Once paternity is established, the custodial parent has the right to seek financial support backdated to the date the paternity action was filed. Consult with an experienced paternity attorney in Wisconsin at Herrling Clark Law Firm to protect your rights.

Yes, but it is very difficult, and generally can only be done shortly after it is established. In Wisconsin, if a VPA was signed, it can be rescinded within 60 days, assuming a Court has not issued an order in a case. After that window, you must prove “fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact” to reopen the case. Genetic testing that later “disproves” paternity is not always enough to overturn a legal judgment if too much time has passed.

No. While many parents agree and sign a VPA, paternity can be established involuntarily. Either parent (or the state) can file a Paternity Action in court. The court can then order a non-invasive DNA test (buccal swab). If the results show a 99% or higher probability of fatherhood, the court will likely issue an order legally declaring paternity regardless of whether one parent disagrees.