ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PARENTAGE                                S.B. 751 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 751 (Substitute S-1 as reported) Sponsor: Senator Robert Geake

Committee: Families, Mental Health and Human Services

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Public Health Code to require hospitals to give unmarried mothers giving birth an acknowledgment of parentage form, provide each parent with a copy of the completed form, and forward completed forms to the State Registrar; require the Department of Public Health (DPH) to develop the form and distribute it free of charge to hospitals; require the State Registrar or local registrar to issue to any applicant a certified copy of an acknowledgment of parentage that was filed after October 1, 1996; and require an acknowledgment of parentage form to be filed before a birth certificate could contain the name of the father of a child born to an unmarried woman.

The bill would take effect on October 1, 1996, and is tie-barred to Senate Bill 749, which would create the “Acknowledgment of Parentage Act” to provide that a child’s mother and a man could sign an acknowledgment of parentage form that would establish paternity; require completed forms to be filed with the State Registrar, who would have to review and file them in a central registry; and provide that a child’s mother, a man signing an acknowledgment, a child, or a prosecuting attorney could file a claim for revocation of an acknowledgment.

MCL 333.1104 et al.                                                                      Legislative Analyst: L. Burghardt

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.

Date Completed: 1-17-96                                                                        Fiscal Analyst: P. Graham

C. Cole

M. Bain

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.