Cal. Codes » Family Code / DIVISION 12. PARENT AND CHILD RELATIONSHIP / PART 2. PRESUMPTION CONCERNING CHILD OF MARRIAGE AND GENETIC TESTING TO DETERMINE PARENTAGE / CHAPTER 3. Establishment of Parentage by Voluntary Declaration
California Codes

Cal. Family Code § 7571 (2026)

Establishment of Parentage by Voluntary Declaration

✓ leginfo export of Sept. 26, 2026 (applied Oct. 1, 2026)
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(a)On and after January 1, 1995, upon the event of a live birth, prior to an unmarried mother or a mother who gave birth to a child conceived through assisted reproduction leaving a hospital, the person responsible for registering live births under Section 102405 of the Health and Safety Code shall provide to the woman giving birth and shall attempt to provide, at the place of birth, to the person identified by the woman giving birth as either the only possible genetic parent other than the woman who gave birth or the intended parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction, a voluntary declaration of parentage together with the written materials described in Section 7572. Staff in the hospital shall witness the signatures of parents signing a voluntary declaration of parentage and shall forward the signed declaration to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed. A copy of the declaration shall be made available to each of the attesting parents.

(b)A health care provider shall not be subject to civil, criminal, or administrative liability for a negligent act or omission relative to the accuracy of the information provided or for filing the declaration with the appropriate state or local agencies.

(c)The local child support agency shall pay the sum of ten dollars ($10) to birthing hospitals and other entities that provide prenatal services for each completed declaration of parentage that is filed with the Department of Child Support Services, provided that the local child support agency and the hospital or other entity providing prenatal services has entered into a written agreement that specifies the terms and conditions for the payment as required by federal law.

(d)If the declaration is not registered by the person responsible for registering live births at the hospital, it may be completed by the attesting parents, notarized, and mailed to the Department of Child Support Services at any time after the child’s birth.

(e)Prenatal clinics shall offer prospective parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. In order to be paid for their services as provided in subdivision (c), prenatal clinics must ensure that the form is witnessed and forwarded to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed.

(f)Declarations shall be made available without charge at all local child support agency offices, offices of local registrars of births and deaths, courts, and county welfare departments within this state. Staff in these offices shall witness the signatures of parents wishing to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage and shall be responsible for forwarding the signed declaration to the Department of Child Support Services within 20 days of the date the declaration was signed.

(g)The Department of Child Support Services, at its option, may pay the sum of ten dollars ($10) to local registrars of births and deaths, county welfare departments, or courts for each completed declaration of parentage that is witnessed by staff in these offices and filed with the Department of Child Support Services. In order to receive payment, the Department of Child Support Services and the entity shall enter into a written agreement that specifies the terms and conditions for payment as required by federal law. The Department of Child Support Services shall study the effect of the ten dollar ($10) payment on obtaining completed voluntary declaration of parentage forms.

(h)The Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies shall publicize the availability of the declarations. The local child support agency shall make the declaration, together with the written materials described in subdivision (a) of Section 7572, available upon request to any parent and any agency or organization that is required to offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. The local child support agency shall also provide qualified staff to answer parents’ questions regarding the declaration and the process of establishing parentage.

(i)Copies of the declaration and any rescissions filed with the Department of Child Support Services shall be made available only to the parents, the child, the local child support agency, the county welfare department, the county counsel, the State Department of Public Health, and the courts.

(j)Publicly funded or licensed health clinics, pediatric offices, Head Start programs, child care centers, social services providers, prisons, and schools may offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage. In order to be paid for their services as provided in subdivision (c), publicly funded or licensed health clinics, pediatric offices, Head Start programs, child care centers, social services providers, prisons, and schools shall ensure that the form is witnessed and forwarded to the Department of Child Support Services.

(k)An agency or organization required to offer parents the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage shall also identify parents who are willing to sign but were unavailable when the child was born. The organization shall then contact these parents within 10 days and again offer the parent the opportunity to sign a voluntary declaration of parentage.

(l)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 2003–2026 · leading case: Los Angeles Cnty. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs. v. R.R., 193 Cal. App. 4th 1494 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).
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Los Angeles Cnty. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs. v. R.R., 193 Cal. App. 4th 1494 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 8× “198-200; Fam. Code, § 7571, subd. (d).) Thus, the juvenile court erroneously insisted the voluntary declaration of paternity had to be signed at the hospital.”
In re Daniel M., 110 Cal. App. 4th 703 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003). “) Similarly, in California an alleged father may acknowledge or establish paternity by voluntarily signing a declaration of paternity at the time of the child's birth, for filing with the birth certificate (Fam.Code, § 7571, subd. (a)), or through blood testing (Fam.”
In re Est. of Carter, 111 Cal. App. 4th 1139 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003). “Of course, there are plenty of bright lines in the law, and when they apply, there is no difficulty in ascertaining heirs, even for a self-interested petitioner for administration of an estate.”
Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs. v. John B., 221 Cal. App. 4th 1482 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013). “) Consistent with the legislative purpose set out in Family Code section 7570, Family Code section 7571 requires hospitals to provide voluntary declarations of paternity to “the natural mother and .”
In re William K., 161 Cal. App. 4th 1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). “(Fam.Code, § 7571.) The Legislature enacted the statutes creating the declaration process to further the state's interest in establishing paternity for all children and provide a means of establishing paternity which avoided the need for a lengthy and expensive court process.”
Shasta Cnty. Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Ronald F., 161 Cal. App. 4th 1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). “(Fam. Code, § 7571.) The Legislature enacted the statutes creating the declaration process to further the state’s interest in establishing paternity for all children and to provide a means of establishing paternity that avoided the need for a lengthy and expensive court process.”
San Diego Cnty. Health & Human Servs. Agency v. Richard S., 110 Cal. App. 4th 703 (Cal. Ct. App. 2003). “) Similarly, in California an alleged father may acknowledge or establish paternity by *709 voluntarily signing a declaration of paternity at the time of the child’s birth, for filing with the birth certificate (Fam. Code, § 7571, subd. (a)), or through blood testing (Fam.”
In re G.W. ca2/4, No. B331618 (Cal. Ct. App. July 5, 2024). · cites it 2× “(Fam. Code, §§ 7571, subd. (a); 7551.) Nor did he meet the standards for declaring him a presumed father.”
In re C.M. ca2/2, No. B305114 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 22, 2020). ““[I]n California an alleged father may acknowledge or establish paternity by voluntarily signing a declaration of paternity at the time of the child’s birth, for filing with the birth 8 certificate (Fam. Code, § 7571, subd. (a)), or through blood testing (Fam.”
In re M.R. ca2/6, No. B308711 (Cal. Ct. App. July 12, 2021). “Presumed fatherhood may be established in several ways, including (1) by executing a voluntary declaration of parentage, or (2) by receiving the child into his home and openly holding the child out as his natural child.”
In re C.S. ca2/3, No. B318139 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 19, 2022). “(a)(1)); ––By a voluntary declaration of parentage signed by an unmarried mother and a person identified by the mother “as either the only possible genetic parent other than the woman who gave birth or the intended parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction” (Fam.…”
In re G.M. ca2/5, No. B326194 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 18, 2023). “2 provides additional facts a dependency court may consider in determining that a man should be considered a “presumed” father, rather than an alleged father. (See § 316.2, subd. (a) [listing factors such as man’s cohabitation with child’s mother at the time of conception or…”
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