Paternity in NY

"You should have married the mother," I remember saying to my client when he asked why I was asking him to jump through hoops to prove that he was indeed the father of the child. Many people unfamiliar with the law think that only a judicial determination of paternity, known as an Order of Filiation can in fact prove paternity in the event of an unmarried couple. Such is not the case in the State of NY. In the hospital as the mother is filling out the birth certificate, the parents can execute an Acknowldedgement of Paternity which is then filed with birth certificate and under the Family Court Act Section 516 satisfies the legal requirement for proof of paternity. No further order or decree from a magistrate is thereafter required. But you need to retain the proof or be able to get your hands on in if a custody battle insues.
When parties are married the law automatically presumes that the husband is the father of any child born during the marriage and no such documents are necessary nor are court orders required.