Chicago Paternity Attorneys

Paternity Laws In Illinois

In the state of Illinois, if parents are unmarried, the child’s father is considered the ‘alleged father’ until proven otherwise. Paternity must be established for the father to have any legal rights or to have his name listed on the birth certificate.

Even in cases in which the mother desires no further contact, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) advises that establishing paternity is important in terms of family health history and medical information, as well as gaining access to financial and medical benefits, including child support, veterans benefits, and social security. In Illinois, there are three ways to establish paternity:

• Through a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form completed and signed by both parents;
• Through an Administrative Order entered by HFS child support services;
• By an Order of Paternity entered by a judge through court proceedings.  

Unless paternity is voluntarily acknowledged, a paternity test will be given to the alleged father. As a genetic test, it will compare the DNA of the child, the mother, and the father to determine if the man in question could have possibly fathered the child.

While these tests are not one hundred percent accurate, paternity will be assumed by the court, provided the test and other evidence reveal at least a 99.9 percent probability. Once paternity is established, the father’s name may then be added to the birth certificate through the Illinois Department of Public Health.