Site: nolo.com
... because when it comes to inheritance, child support, custody, adoption, and many other areas of family law ... birth, the father and the mother have married (or gone through a ceremony in apparent compliance with law ... the man
a) has acknowledged paternity in writing—for example, by signing a paternity statement
b) ... The law calls this “abandonment. ... See Nolo’s Lawyer Directory for a list of local family law attorneys. ...