2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 16 - Domestic Relations
Chapter 11 - Establishing Paternity
§ 292. Voluntary paternity establishment
(a) Paternity may be voluntarily established through the execution of an Acknowledgment of Paternity. The process shall be as follows:
(1) The Acknowledgment of Paternity, as prescribed in this section, shall be the exclusive means to voluntarily establish paternity of children born out-of-wedlock, outside of the court and administrative process as set out in this chapter. The Acknowledgment of Paternity shall be promulgated by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Health.
(2) The Acknowledgment of Paternity shall comply with all the requirements of a paternity acknowledgment affidavit as established by federal law and regulation, including, but not limited to required information and format.
(3) If information required on the Acknowledgment of Paternity does not exist, the failure to provide such information shall not prevent the voluntary establishment of paternity pursuant to this section.
(4) The Acknowledgment of Paternity must be sworn to or affirmed by both parents of a child born out-of-wedlock before duly authorized notary public.
(5) The Acknowledgment of Paternity shall include a written notice of the alternatives to, legal consequences of, and the rights (including, if a parent is a minor, any rights afforded to minority status) and responsibilities that arise from signing the Acknowledgment of Paternity. This notice must be provided in writing and orally to both signatories prior to signing the Acknowledgment of Paternity.
(6) An Acknowledgment of Paternity, if completed in compliance with the requirements of this section, shall be considered a conclusive legal finding of paternity, with the same force and effect as a court or administrative adjudication of paternity and without the necessity of a court or hearing officer ratification, subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the Acknowledgment of Paternity within 60 days of the date of signing. The rescission is accomplished by filing a notarized request to rescind with the Paternity and Child Support Division, Department of Justice. Notwithstanding any other regulation or section of this code, the Office of Vital Statistics, Department of Health, pursuant to receipt of a Notice to Amend the Birth Certificate from the Paternity and Child Support Division, to be issued by the Paternity and Child Support Division pursuant to a timely received request to rescind, shall make all appropriate administrative changes to the birth record. Any challenge to the Acknowledgment of Paternity after the expiration of the 60 day rescission period must be filed in the court and shall only be based on fraud, duress or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger. The legal responsibilities of any signatory which may arise under the Acknowledgment of Paternity may not be suspended during the court challenge unless the court finds good cause.
(7) The Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, shall not create or amend a birth certificate to include any information about the father of a child out of wedlock unless a completed Acknowledgment of Paternity, or a court or administrative adjudication of paternity has been filed with the Office of Vital Statistics.
(b) In-Hospital Paternity Establishment Programs, and substantially similar programs, shall be established to allow for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity through the signing of an Acknowledgment of Paternity. The process shall be as follows:
(1) All birthing hospitals and facilities shall provide the biological parents of children born out-of-wedlock, with focus on the period immediately before or after the birth of a child, with the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity of such child through the signing of an Acknowledgment of Paternity, as specified in this section.
(2) The Department of Justice, Paternity and Child Support Division, and the Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, shall likewise offer biological parents of children born-out-wedlock the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity of a child through the signing of an Acknowledgment of Paternity. In addition, the Attorney General may designate other entities that may offer voluntary paternity establishment services, if performed in accordance with the basic requirements of this section.
(3) The Commissioner of the Department of Health, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall promulgate appropriate policies and procedures establishing the in-hospital paternity establishment program process, including, but not limited to, the manner in which oral notice of the rights and responsibilities attached to signing an Acknowledgment of Paternity can be provided, the payment of fees, if any, for each completed Acknowledgment of Paternity, and the manner in which completed Acknowledgments of Paternity are forwarded to the Office of Vital Statistics, and the Attorney General shall promulgate appropriate policies and procedures for the voluntary paternity establishment process in the Paternity and Child Support Division, and/or regulations, if appropriate, for any other entity designated for this purpose pursuant to this subsection. All policies, procedures and regulations issued pursuant to this subsection shall be in full compliance with applicable federal law and regulation.
(c) Any Acknowledgment of Paternity completed pursuant to this section, whether at a birthing hospital or facility or any other specified location, shall be filed with the appropriate Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics within 30 days of signing. In addition, the court and the Paternity and Child Support Division shall, respectively, forward a copy of all judicial or administrative adjudications of paternity, whether based on consent or not, to the appropriate Office of Vital Statistics. The Office of Vital Statistics shall maintain a record of all Acknowledgments of Paternity and all judicial and administrative adjudications of paternity, and shall make such record available to the Paternity and Child Support Division in a manner consistent with applicable federal law and regulations.
(d) The Paternity and Child Support Division shall publicize the availability and encourage the use of procedures for voluntary establishment of paternity and child support in a manner to be determined by the Attorney General and consistent with federal law and regulation.
