New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:6 – Notice to Person Claiming Paternity and Hearing to Determine Right to Surrender
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I. In an intrastate or interstate adoption, but not an international adoption, the following persons shall be given notice by the court and shall have the right to request a hearing to prove paternity:
(a) A person named by the birth mother in an affidavit:
(1) Filed with the court; and
(2) Given prior to or at the time of the surrender of parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9, or her parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
(b) The birth or legal father, if his identity is known by the court, the department or licensed child placing agency which is legal guardian of the child, or the proposed adoptive parents or their attorney, prior to the birth mother surrendering her parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or her parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
(c) A person who claims to be the father and who has registered his claim of paternity with the office of child support services in what shall be known as the New Hampshire putative father registry or in the putative father registry of the state where the child was born. The registration form filed with the appropriate putative father registry may be filed prior to the birth of the child but shall be filed prior to the birth mother’s parental rights being surrendered pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or involuntarily terminated. Failure to register with the appropriate putative father registry prior to this time shall bar the alleged father from thereafter bringing an action to establish his paternity of the child, and shall constitute an abandonment of said child and a waiver of any right to a notice of hearing in any adoption proceeding concerning the child.
(1) In an interstate adoption, the petition shall provide the court with the name, address, and telephone number of the putative father registry in the state where the child was born.
(2) In New Hampshire, the registration form shall be supplied by the office of child support services. The form shall require the claimant to affirmatively express his intent to support the child to the best of his ability.
(d) A person who is openly living with the child or the child’s birth mother or providing financial support to her or the child at the time any action under this chapter is initiated and who is holding himself out to be the child’s father prior to the mother surrendering her parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or the mother’s parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
II. Any person entitled to notice from the court under paragraph I shall be provided 30 days from the date of the court’s notice to request a hearing at which he shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he is the legal or birth father of the child. The failure to request such hearing within 30 days from the date of the court’s notice shall result in a forfeiture of all parental rights and any right to notice by the court of any adoption proceedings concerning the child.
III. This section shall be construed broadly in favor of providing an alleged father with notice by the court pursuant to paragraph I.
(a) A person named by the birth mother in an affidavit:
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:6
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Agency: means any person licensed by existing law to place minors for adoption. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Birth father: means a person or persons other than a legal father who has been named, pursuant to N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Birth mother: means a woman who gestates an embryo conceived by natural or artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, or preembryo transfer, or becomes a parent pursuant to N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Child: means a son or daughter, whether by birth or by adoption. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Court: means probate court. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Department: means the department of health and human services. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
- Legal father: means :
(a) The person designated as the father pursuant to N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2 - Person: means an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
- petition: when used in connection with the equity jurisdiction of the superior court, and referring to a document filed with the court, shall mean complaint, and "petitioner" shall mean plaintiff. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:51
- state: when applied to different parts of the United States, may extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
- Surrender: means the release of all parental rights, including but not limited to care, custody, and control of the child, by a parent, legal guardian, or agency. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 170-B:2
(1) Filed with the court; and
(2) Given prior to or at the time of the surrender of parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9, or her parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
(b) The birth or legal father, if his identity is known by the court, the department or licensed child placing agency which is legal guardian of the child, or the proposed adoptive parents or their attorney, prior to the birth mother surrendering her parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or her parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
(c) A person who claims to be the father and who has registered his claim of paternity with the office of child support services in what shall be known as the New Hampshire putative father registry or in the putative father registry of the state where the child was born. The registration form filed with the appropriate putative father registry may be filed prior to the birth of the child but shall be filed prior to the birth mother’s parental rights being surrendered pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or involuntarily terminated. Failure to register with the appropriate putative father registry prior to this time shall bar the alleged father from thereafter bringing an action to establish his paternity of the child, and shall constitute an abandonment of said child and a waiver of any right to a notice of hearing in any adoption proceeding concerning the child.
(1) In an interstate adoption, the petition shall provide the court with the name, address, and telephone number of the putative father registry in the state where the child was born.
(2) In New Hampshire, the registration form shall be supplied by the office of child support services. The form shall require the claimant to affirmatively express his intent to support the child to the best of his ability.
(d) A person who is openly living with the child or the child’s birth mother or providing financial support to her or the child at the time any action under this chapter is initiated and who is holding himself out to be the child’s father prior to the mother surrendering her parental rights pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 170-B:9 or the mother’s parental rights being involuntarily terminated.
II. Any person entitled to notice from the court under paragraph I shall be provided 30 days from the date of the court’s notice to request a hearing at which he shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he is the legal or birth father of the child. The failure to request such hearing within 30 days from the date of the court’s notice shall result in a forfeiture of all parental rights and any right to notice by the court of any adoption proceedings concerning the child.
III. This section shall be construed broadly in favor of providing an alleged father with notice by the court pursuant to paragraph I.