CHAPTER 3. Establishment of Parentage by Voluntary Declaration [7570. - 7581.]

Cal. Family Code - FAM 3.

in effect

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7570. Section 7570.

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows: (1) There is a compelling state interest in establishing parentage for all children. Establishing parentage is the first step toward a child support award, which, in turn, provides children with equal rights and access to benefits, including, but not limited to, social security, health insurance, survivors’ benefits, military benefits, and inheritance rights. (2) A simple administrative system allowing for establishment of voluntary parentage will result in a significant increase in the ease of establishing parentage, a significant increase in parentage establishment, an increase in the number of children who have greater access to child support and other benefits, and a significant decrease in the time and money required to establish parentage due to the removal of the need for a lengthy and expensive court process to determine and establish parentage and is in the public interest. (b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7571. Section 7571.

(a) On and after January 1, 1995, upon the event of a live birth, prior to an unmarried mother or a mother who gave birth to a child conceived through assisted reproduction leaving a hospital, the person responsible for registering live births under Section 102405 of the Health and Safety Code shall provide to the woman giving birth and shall attempt to provide, at the place of birth, to the person identified by the woman giving birth as either the only possible genetic parent other than the woman who gave birth or the intended parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction, a voluntary declaration of parentage together with the written materials described in Section 7572. Staff in the hospital shall witness the signatures of parents signing a voluntary declaration of parentage and shall forward the signed declaration to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed. A copy of the declaration shall be made available to each of the attesting parents. (b) A health care provider shall not be subject to civil, criminal, or administrative liability for a negligent act or omission relative to the accuracy of the information provided or for filing the declaration with the appropriate state or local agencies. (c) The local child support agency shall pay the sum of ten dollars ($10) to birthing hospitals and other entities that provide prenatal services for each completed declaration of parentage that is filed with the Department of Child Support Services, provided that the local child support agency and the hospital or other entity providing prenatal services has entered into a written agreement that specifies the terms and conditions for the payment as required by federal law. (d) If the declaration is not registered by the person responsible for registering live births at the hospital, it may be completed by the attesting parents, notarized, and mailed to the Department of Child Support Services at any time after the child’s birth. (e) Prenatal clinics shall offer prospective parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. In order to be paid for their services as provided in subdivision (c), prenatal clinics must ensure that the form is witnessed and forwarded to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed. (f) Declarations shall be made available without charge at all local child support agency offices, offices of local registrars of births and deaths, courts, and county welfare departments within this state. Staff in these offices shall witness the signatures of parents wishing to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage and shall be responsible for forwarding the signed declaration to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed. (g) The Department of Child Support Services, at its option, may pay the sum of ten dollars ($10) to local registrars of births and deaths, county welfare departments, or courts for each completed declaration of parentage that is witnessed by staff in these offices and filed with the Department of Child Support Services. In order to receive payment, the Department of Child Support Services and the entity shall enter into a written agreement that specifies the terms and conditions for payment as required by federal law. The Department of Child Support Services shall study the effect of the ten dollar ($10) payment on obtaining completed voluntary declaration of parentage forms. (h) The Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies shall publicize the availability of the declarations. The local child support agency shall make the declaration, together with the written materials described in subdivision (a) of Section 7572, available upon request to any parent and any agency or organization that is required to offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. The local child support agency shall also provide qualified staff to answer parents’ questions regarding the declaration and the process of establishing parentage. (i) Copies of the declaration and any rescissions filed with the Department of Child Support Services shall be made available only to the parents, the child, the local child support agency, the county welfare department, the county counsel, the State Department of Public Health, and the courts. (j) Publicly funded or licensed health clinics, pediatric offices, Head Start programs, child care centers, social services providers, prisons, and schools may offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. In order to be paid for their services as provided in subdivision (c), publicly funded or licensed health clinics, pediatric offices, Head Start programs, child care centers, social services providers, prisons, and schools shall ensure that the form is witnessed and forwarded to the Department of Child Support Services. (k) An agency or organization required to offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage shall also identify parents who are willing to sign but were unavailable when the child was born. The organization shall then contact these parents within 10 days and again offer the parent the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. (l) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7572. Section 7572.

(a) The Department of Child Support Services, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services, the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, and other affected health provider organizations, shall work cooperatively to develop written materials to assist providers and parents in complying with this chapter. These written materials shall be updated periodically by the Department of Child Support Services to reflect changes in law, procedures, or public need. (b) The written materials for unmarried parents or parents of a child conceived through assisted reproduction that shall be attached to the form specified in Section 7574 and shall contain the following information: (1) A signed voluntary declaration of parentage that is filed with the Department of Child Support Services legally establishes parentage. (2) The legal rights and obligations of both parents and the child that result from the establishment of parentage. (3) An alleged father’s constitutional rights to have the issue of parentage decided by a court; to notice of any hearing on the issue of parentage; to have an opportunity to present the alleged father’s case to the court, including the right to present and cross-examine witnesses; to be represented by an attorney; and to have an attorney appointed if the alleged father cannot afford one in a parentage action filed by a local child support agency. (4) That by signing the voluntary declaration of parentage, the father is voluntarily waiving the father’s constitutional rights. (c) Parents shall also be given oral notice of the rights and responsibilities specified in subdivision (b). Oral notice may be accomplished through the use of audio- or video-recorded programs developed by the Department of Child Support Services to the extent permitted by federal law. (d) The Department of Child Support Services shall, free of charge, make available to hospitals, clinics, and other places of birth all informational and training materials for the program under this chapter, as well as the declaration of parentage form. The Department of Child Support Services shall make training available to every participating hospital, clinic, local registrar of births and deaths, and other place of birth no later than June 30, 1999. (e) The Department of Child Support Services may adopt regulations, including emergency regulations, necessary to implement this chapter.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7573. Section 7573.

(a) The following persons may sign a voluntary declaration of parentage to establish the parentage of the child: (1) An unmarried woman who gave birth to the child and another person who is a genetic parent. (2) A married or unmarried woman who gave birth to the child and another person who is a parent under Section 7613 of a child conceived through assisted reproduction. (b) A voluntary declaration of parentage shall be in a record signed by the woman who gave birth to the child and by either the only possible genetic parent other than the woman who gave birth or the intended parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction, and the signatures shall be attested by a notary or witnessed. (c) Except as provided by Section 7580, a voluntary declaration of parentage takes effect on the filing of the document with the Department of Child Support Services. (d) Except as provided in Sections 7573.5, 7575, 7576, 7577, and 7580, a completed voluntary declaration of parentage that complies with this chapter and that has been filed with the Department of Child Support Services is equivalent to a judgment of parentage of the child and confers on the declarant all rights and duties of a parent. (e) The court shall give full faith and credit to a voluntary declaration of parentage effective in another state if the declaration was in a signed record and otherwise complies with the law of the other state. (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7573.5. Section 7573.5.

(a) A voluntary declaration of parentage is void if, at the time of signing, any of the following are true: (1) A person other than the woman who gave birth to the child or a person seeking to establish parentage through a voluntary declaration of parentage is a presumed parent under Section 7540 or subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 7611. (2) A court has entered a judgment of parentage of the child. (3) Another person has signed a valid voluntary declaration of parentage. (4) The child has a parent under Section 7613 or 7962 other than the signatories. (5) The person seeking to establish parentage is a donor pursuant to Section 7613. (6) The person seeking to establish parentage asserts that the person is a parent under Section 7613 and the child was not conceived through assisted reproduction. (b) In an action in which a party is seeking a determination that a voluntary declaration of parentage is void under this section, notice shall be provided pursuant to Section 7635.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7574. Section 7574.

(a) The voluntary declaration of parentage shall be executed on a form developed by the Department of Child Support Services in consultation with the State Department of Public Health and groups addressing child support, child custody, assisted reproduction issues, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. (b) The form described in subdivision (a) shall contain, at a minimum, all of the following: (1) The name and the signature of the woman who gave birth to the child. (2) The name and the signature of the person seeking to establish parentage. (3) The name of the child. (4) The date of birth of the child. (5) For a voluntary declaration of parentage signed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 7573, all of the following: (A) A statement by the woman who gave birth that the woman is unmarried and understands the written materials described in Section 7572, that the person who is signing the voluntary declaration of parentage is the only possible genetic parent other than the woman who gave birth, that the woman who gave birth consents to the establishment of parentage by the genetic parent signing the voluntary declaration of parentage, and that the woman who gave birth understands that a challenge by a signatory to a valid declaration of parentage is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred two years after the effective date of the declaration. (B) A statement by the person signing the voluntary declaration of parentage that the person has read and understands the written materials described in Section 7572, understands that by signing the voluntary declaration of parentage the person is waiving rights as described in the written materials, that the person is the genetic parent of the child, that the person consents to the establishment of parentage by signing the voluntary declaration of parentage, that the person is assuming all the rights and responsibilities of a parent and wishes to be named on the child’s birth certificate, and that the person understands that a challenge by a signatory to a valid declaration of parentage is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred two years after the effective date of the declaration. (6) For a voluntary declaration of parentage signed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 7573, all of the following: (A) A statement by the woman who gave birth that the woman has read and understands the written materials described in Section 7572, that the person who is signing the voluntary declaration of parentage is the intended parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction, that the woman who gave birth consents to the establishment of parentage by the other person signing the voluntary declaration of parentage, and that the woman who gave birth understands that a challenge by a signatory to a valid declaration of parentage is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred two years after the effective date of the declaration. (B) A statement that the person seeking to establish parentage has read and understands the written materials described in Section 7572, understands that by signing the voluntary declaration of parentage the person is waiving rights as described in the written materials, that the person is the intended parent of the child conceived through assisted reproduction, that the person consents to the establishment of parentage by signing the voluntary declaration of parentage, that the person is assuming all the rights and responsibilities of a parent and wishes to be named on the child’s birth certificate, and that the person understands that a challenge by a signatory to a valid declaration of parentage is permitted only under limited circumstances and is barred two years after the effective date of the declaration. (7) The name and the signature of the person who witnesses the signing of the declaration.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7575. Section 7575.

(a) Either parent may rescind the voluntary declaration of parentage by filing a rescission form with the Department of Child Support Services within 60 days of the date of execution of the declaration by the attesting parents, whichever signature is later, unless a court order for custody, visitation, or child support has been entered in an action in which the signatory seeking to rescind was a party. The Department of Child Support Services shall develop a form to be used by parents to rescind the declaration of parentage and instructions on how to complete and file the rescission with the Department of Child Support Services. The form shall include a declaration under penalty of perjury completed by the person filing the rescission form that certifies that a copy of the rescission form was sent by any form of mail requiring a return receipt to the other person who signed the voluntary declaration of parentage. A copy of the return receipt shall be attached to the rescission form when filed with the Department of Child Support Services. The form and instructions shall be written in simple, easy to understand language and shall be made available at the local family support office and the office of local registrar of births and deaths. The department shall, upon written request, provide to a court or commissioner a copy of any rescission form filed with the department that is relevant to proceedings before the court or commissioner. (b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7576. Section 7576.

(a) After the period for rescission provided in Section 7575 expires, but not later than two years after the effective date provided in subdivision (c) of Section 7573 of a voluntary declaration of parentage, a signatory of the voluntary declaration of parentage may commence a proceeding to challenge the declaration on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. (b) The limitations period provided in subdivision (a) shall not apply if the voluntary declaration of parentage is void under Section 7573.5. (c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7577. Section 7577.

The following rules apply in an action to challenge a valid voluntary declaration of parentage brought by a person who is not a signatory to the declaration. This section does not apply to a voluntary declaration of parentage that is void under Section 7573.5. (a) A person has standing under this section if the person is an alleged genetic parent who is not a donor under Section 7613, is a presumed parent under Section 7611, or any person who has standing under Section 7630. (b) The petition challenging a voluntary declaration of parentage pursuant to this section shall be supported by a declaration under oath alleging specific facts to support standing under this section. (c) If the court holds a hearing to determine standing, the hearing shall be held on an expedited basis. If the person challenging the voluntary declaration of parentage is an alleged genetic parent, genetic testing shall be ordered on an expedited basis. (d) The action shall be filed not later than two years after the effective date of the declaration. This limitations period does not apply if the voluntary declaration of parentage is void under Section 7573.5. (e) Notice shall be provided to the signatories of the declaration and to any person entitled to notice under Section 7635. A person who asserts a claim to parentage under this division shall be joined in the action. (f) With respect to whether the voluntary declaration of parentage should be set aside, the person petitioning to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage shall have the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. (g) The court may grant the petition to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage only if the court finds that setting aside the voluntary declaration of parentage is in the best interest of the child, based on consideration of all of the following factors: (1) The age of the child. (2) The length of time since the effective date of the voluntary declaration of parentage. (3) The nature, duration, and quality of any relationship between the person who signed the voluntary declaration of parentage and the child, including the duration and frequency of any time periods during which the child and the person resided in the same household or enjoyed a parent and child relationship. (4) The request of the person who signed the voluntary declaration of parentage that the parent and child relationship continue. (5) If the person challenges a voluntary declaration of parentage signed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 7573, the court shall additionally consider all of the following: (A) Notice by the genetic parent of the child that the genetic parent does not oppose preservation of the relationship between the person who signed the declaration of parentage and the child. (B) Whether any conduct of the person who signed the voluntary declaration has impaired the ability to ascertain the identity of, or obtain support from, the genetic parent. (6) Additional factors deemed by the court to be relevant to its determination of the best interest of the child. (h) If the voluntary declaration of parentage is challenged by a person who is presumed to be a parent under subdivision (d) of Section 7611, the court’s ruling on the petition to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage shall, in addition to the factors under subdivision (g), also take into account the nature, duration, and quality of the relationship between the petitioning party and the child and the benefit or detriment to the child of continuing that relationship. (i) If the court denies the petition to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage, the court shall state on the record the basis for the denial of the action and any supporting facts. (j) (1) If the court grants the petition to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage, the court shall adjudicate parentage pursuant to Section 7612. (2) An order for custody, visitation, or child support shall remain in effect until the court determines that the voluntary declaration of parentage should be set aside, subject to the court’s power to modify the orders as otherwise provided by law. (k) This section does not prejudice or bar the rights of a person who is not a signatory and has standing under subdivision (a) to file an action or motion to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage on any of the grounds described in, and within the time limits specified in, Section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If the action or motion to set aside a judgment is required to be filed within a specified time period under Section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the period within which the action or motion to set aside the voluntary declaration of parentage must be filed shall commence on the date that the court makes an initial order for custody, visitation, or child support based upon a voluntary declaration of parentage. (l) This section does not restrict a court from acting as a court of equity. (m) The Judicial Council shall develop the forms and procedures necessary to effectuate this section.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7578. Section 7578.

(a) Every signatory to a voluntary declaration of parentage shall be made a party to a proceeding to challenge the declaration. (b) By signing a voluntary declaration, a signatory submits to personal jurisdiction in this state in a proceeding to challenge the declaration, effective on the filing of the declaration with the Department of Child Support Services. (c) The court shall not suspend the legal responsibilities arising from a voluntary declaration of parentage, including the duty to pay child support, during the pendency of a proceeding to challenge the voluntary declaration of parentage, unless the party challenging the declaration shows good cause. (d) A party challenging a voluntary declaration of parentage has the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. (e) If the judgment or order of the court is at variance with the child’s birth certificate, the court shall order that a new birth certificate be issued as prescribed in Article 2 (commencing with Section 102725) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 102 of the Health and Safety Code. (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7580. Section 7580.

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 7573, a voluntary declaration of parentage that is signed by a minor parent does not establish parentage until 60 days after both signatories have reached 18 years of age or are emancipated, whichever first occurs. (b) A person who signs a voluntary declaration of parentage as a minor may rescind the voluntary declaration of parentage at any time up to 60 days after the signatory reaches 18 years of age or becomes emancipated, whichever first occurs. (c) A voluntary declaration of parentage signed by a minor creates a rebuttable presumption for or against parentage until the date that it establishes parentage as specified in subdivision (a). (d) A voluntary declaration of parentage signed by a minor shall be admissible as evidence in a civil action to establish parentage of the minor named in the voluntary declaration. (e) A voluntary declaration of parentage that is signed by a minor shall not be admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution for violation of Section 261.5 of the Penal Code.

Cal. Family Code - FAM § 7581. Section 7581.

The following provisions shall apply for voluntary declarations signed on or before December 31, 1996. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the child of a woman and a man executing a declaration of paternity under this chapter is conclusively presumed to be the man’s child. The presumption under this section has the same force and effect as the presumption under Section 7540. (b) A voluntary declaration of paternity shall be recognized as the basis for the establishment of an order for child custody or support. (c) In an action to rebut the presumption created by this section, a voluntary declaration of paternity shall be admissible as evidence to determine paternity of the child named in the voluntary declaration of paternity. (d) The presumption established by this section may be rebutted by any person by requesting genetic testing pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7550). The notice of motion for genetic testing pursuant to this section shall be supported by a declaration under oath submitted by the moving party stating the factual basis for placing the issue of paternity before the court. The notice of motion for genetic testing shall be made within three years from the date of execution of the declaration by the attesting father, or by the attesting mother, whichever signature is later. The two-year statute of limitations specified in subdivision (b) of Section 7541 is inapplicable for purposes of this section. (e) A presumption under this section shall override all statutory presumptions of paternity, except a presumption arising under Section 7540, a claim made pursuant to Section 7555, or as provided in Section 7612. (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026