Act No. 409

Public Acts of 2014

Approved by the Governor

December 27, 2014

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 30, 2014

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 30, 2015

STATE OF MICHIGAN

97TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2014

Introduced by Rep. Kurtz

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5510

AN ACT to amend 1996 PA 305, entitled “An act to prescribe procedures for and the contents of acknowledgments of parentage; to state the effects of those acknowledgments; to provide procedures and criteria for revoking acknowledgments; and to prescribe powers and duties of certain state officers and employees,” by amending sections 3 and 5 (MCL 722.1003 and 722.1005).

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 3. (1) If a child is born out of wedlock, a man is considered to be the natural father of that child if the man joins with the mother of the child and acknowledges that child as his child by completing a form that is an acknowledgment of parentage.

(2) An acknowledgment of parentage form is valid and effective if signed by the mother and father and those signatures are each notarized by a notary public authorized by the state in which the acknowledgment is signed or witnessed by 1 disinterested, legally competent adult. The witness must be an employee of 1 of the following: a hospital, publicly funded or licensed health clinic, pediatric office, friend of the court, prosecuting attorney, court, department of human services, department of community health, county health agency, county records department, head start program, local social services provider, county jail, or state prison. The witness must sign and date the acknowledgment of parentage form and provide his or her printed name, address, and place of employment. An acknowledgment may be signed any time during the child’s lifetime.

(3) The mother and father shall be provided a copy of the completed acknowledgment at the time of signing.

Sec. 5. (1) A completed original acknowledgment of parentage shall be filed with the state registrar. Upon receipt of an acknowledgment, the state registrar shall review the form. If it appears to be properly completed and notarized or each signature is witnessed as provided under section 3, the state registrar shall file the acknowledgment in a parentage registry in the office of the state registrar. An acknowledgment filed with the state registrar shall be maintained as a permanent record in a manner consistent with section 2876 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.2876.

(2) The state registrar shall issue a copy of an acknowledgment filed in the parentage registry under the procedures and upon payment of the fee prescribed by section 2891 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.2891.

(3) Upon filing, the completed acknowledgment form may serve as a basis for preparation of a new certificate of birth as provided in section 2831 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.2831.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor