Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 26:8-30

  • birth: means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta attached. See New Jersey Statutes 26:8-1
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
26:8-30. The attending physician, midwife or person acting as the agent of the physician or midwife, who was in attendance upon the birth shall be responsible for the proper execution and return of a certificate of birth, which certificate shall be upon the form provided or approved by the State department, and for making available to the mother and biological father a Certificate of Parentage along with related information as required by the State IV-D agency and pursuant to section 452(a)(F) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.s.652(a)(F). It shall be the responsibility of personnel at the hospital or birthing facility to offer an opportunity to the child’s biological father to execute a Certificate of Parentage. Failure of the biological father or mother to execute the Certificate of Parentage and the date of the request shall be noted on the Certificate of Parentage. The Certificate of Parentage shall be filed with the State IV-D agency or its designee. Establishment and enforcement of child support matters shall not be permitted when a legal action is pending in the case, such as adoption, or State law prohibits such intervention.

For the purposes of this section, “State IV-D agency” means the agency in the Department of Human Services designated to administer the Title IV-D Child Support Program.

A signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be challenged in court within 60 days from the date of the signing of the Certificate of Parentage or by the date of the establishment of a support order to which the signatory is a party, whichever date is earlier. The challenge may be made only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger, and the legal responsibilities of any signatory arising from the acknowledgment may not be suspended during the challenge, except for good cause shown. A signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity shall be considered a legal finding of paternity with the same force and effect as a court order or judgment establishing paternity. No judicial or administrative proceedings are required to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of paternity.

Amended 1965, c.78, s.52; 1994, c.164, s.4; 1998, c.1, s.44; 1998, c.20,s.5.

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