We have a tough situation. My daughter and her husband were married for two years and she became pregnant with their child. The husband was irate and tried to bully her into getting an abortion (for months). He said that he would never speak to the child and would ignore it. He then tried to get her to give it up for adoption once born.

He has filed for divorce a few months ago and she is now living with us (her parents) and she is due in a couple of days.

She wants the father to just go his way and we will help our daughter support and take care of the baby.

My question is this. Even though they are married, can she omit his name from the birth certificate? The child will have our last name, and our daughter's will revert to our last name when the divorce is final.

She would not keep the baby from the father (as if he wanted any part), but we don't want the state to pursue the father and force him into support and thus staying in the child's life and resenting her.

What is the policy on omitting marital status and father's name from a birth certificate, on a married couple getting a divorce?

Please help?

We have a tough situation. My daughter and her husband were married for two years and she became pregnant with their child. The husband was irate and tried to bully her into getting an abortion (for months). He said that he would never speak to the child and would ignore it. He then tried to get her to give it up for adoption once born.

He has filed for divorce a few months ago and she is now living with us (her parents) and she is due in a couple of days.

She wants the father to just go his way and we will help our daughter support and take care of the baby.

My question is this. Even though they are married, can she omit his name from the birth certificate? The child will have our last name, and our daughter's will revert to our last name when the divorce is final.

She would not keep the baby from the father (as if he wanted any part), but we don't want the state to pursue the father and force him into support and thus staying in the child's life and resenting her.

What is the policy on omitting marital status and father's name from a birth certificate, on a married couple getting a divorce?

Please help?

Is the pregnancy/expected child mentioned at all in the divorce papers?

Even without the father's name on the BC initially, doesn't mean that he cannot have his name added at a later date. The father can still petition the courts for a DNA test to establish paternity, and is still entitled to the same rights as the mother once this has been done.

What she CAN do, is file for full custody of the child once it's born. If the father is serious about having nothing to do with the child then he may not contest her petition. If he continues to have no contact with the child then at a later date she may petition to have his parental rights terminated (which will remove his name from the birth certificate).

Remember, even though they are married and she MAY or may not be required to name him as the father on the birth certificate she can give the child whatever last name she pleases.

They have not filed for divorce, they INADVERTANTLY filed for legal separation. She is trying to get him to refile for divorce, but he is slow to do anything, as usual. In the separation papers, under children, is says unborn: eta 10/06. And no decision has been made on child support. (it was left blank).

Good. I'd recommend NOT seeking child support, as that can interfere with the mother terminating the father's rights (child support payments are considered "contact" by the noncustodial parent).

If at some time the father comes forward and decides he wants visitation or shared custody - then the TPR will be out of the question anyway and she should go ahead and get a child support order established.

Legally, the only way to keep the father out of the child's life is to have his parental rights terminated.