When a child is born to unmarried parents, the legal relationship between the father and child does not exist automatically. Unlike a child born during a marriage — where Missouri law presumes the husband is the father — a child born outside of marriage has no legal father until paternity is formally established. That distinction carries enormous consequences for the child, the mother, and the father.
Why Paternity Matters
Establishing paternity is far more than a bureaucratic formality. It has lasting legal, financial, and emotional consequences for everyone involved.
For the child it means the right to financial support from both parents, access to the father’s health insurance and medical benefits, inheritance rights from the father and his family, eligibility for Social Security, veterans’, or other government benefits through the father, access to the father’s complete medical and genetic history, and the irreplaceable benefit of knowing both parents and having a legal relationship with both sides of the family
For the mother it means the ability to seek and enforce child support and the ability to obtain a formal custody and parenting time order that protects her rights
For the father if means legal standing to seek custody or parenting time, the right to be involved in major decisions about the child’s life, recognition as the child’s legal parent on the birth certificate, and the ability to pass on inheritance rights, name, and family legacy
Without established paternity, a father has no legal rights whatsoever — he cannot demand visitation, cannot be consulted about medical decisions, and has no standing in court to seek custody. Conversely, he also cannot be ordered to pay child support until paternity is established.
Paternity in Missouri can be established through an administrative action via Family Support Services without an attorney……… or through the court system, which usually requires legal assistance. Here are the things that can – and can’t – be done through an administrative action.
The Family Support Division can initiate a paternity proceeding if a custodial parent applies for child support or when a family receives TANF public assistance. The alleged father receives notice and is offered the opportunity to voluntarily acknowledge paternity or submit to genetic testing.
Once paternity of the child is established, the FSD can issue an administrative order establishing paternity and proceed to set a child support obligation — all without a court hearing. Then child support can be established, as well as an order for the father to cover the child on health insurance. But, the administrative process CANNOT address custody rights. Only a court proceeding can establish a custody schedule for the child.
A paternity action can be filed in court by the mother, the father, or a guardian or legal representative of the child in the county where any of the parties reside. The court will establish legal paternity and order a parenting plan that will address legal custody, physical custody, support of the child, and other relevant factors.
And while there is no technical statute of limitations on paternity, unreasonable delays can certainly complicate the case. It is generally better to establish the relationship while the child is young. For more information about paternity actions and the elements of the parenting plan, consider purchasing our course bundle on Paternity.