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Proving Paternity: Protect your child's rights to Social Security benefits.
by: Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Q.	I did not marry my child's father. What right does my child have to his father's Social Security benefits?

A.	Your child may have the right to monthly cash payments from the Social Security Administration. The father can be living or dead.

Q.	How do I apply?

A.	Go to the nearest Social Security Administration office. You will have to fill out some papers. Ask for help if you need it.

Q.	What do I have to show for my child to get benefits from Social Security?

A.	To get benefits on the father's Social Security account, there are some rules. Your child cannot get benefits unless: he is under 18; or a full-time high school student under 19; or he is 18 or older and has a disability that began before he became 22. You also have to show that your child depended on the father for support, either by legal relationship (for example, marriage, adoption) or otherwise. But if you can show that your child was the natural child of the father, you do not have to show that the father gave you any money to support the child.

Q.	How do I show that my baby's daddy is his daddy?

A.	When you apply, take with you whatever proof you have of your child's relationship with the father. If you can, take with you to the Social Security Administration any family of the father who agree that he treated your child as his. If family or other witnesses will not go with you, ask them to write a letter you can take to the Social Security office. Any kind of proof may help: Birth certificate that the father signed; Baptism or other church documents that the father signed; Photos of the father together with you and/or the child; Envelopes or bills with the father's name on them, when you can prove that the address was also yours; School records listing the father or letting him pick up the child; Funeral or burial notices listing your child as the father, when you can show that family of the father, not you, made the notices; Birthday, gift or other cards or letters from the father, to you, your child, or to others, talking about the child; Records from the welfare or food stamp agency, District Attorney's office, or other government office listing the father as your child's father; Statements from friends and family who heard the father talk about the child as his own.

Q.	What else do I need to do?

A.	Having a lawyer might help win the claim. But having a lawyer is not enough. You have to have enough proof to show the Social Security Administration. If the father of your child is still living, and you did not marry him before your child's birth, it is important for your child's sake that you gather now the proof that you might need later. Think about filing a paternity lawsuit, to have a court issue an order saying that your child is the father's. If you go to the District Attorney's office, you should get help there to get child support and to prove paternity. If you are getting welfare but never named the father, think about doing it now. The state will then try to get child support and must prove paternity. Blood tests may be enough to prove paternity to the state, even if you do not have any other proof. Also, keep any cards or letters the father gives you or the child. Take photos of the father with you and the child. Keep any other proof that you and the father lived together, that he called the child his own, or that he supported him.

Q.	Social Security turned my child's claim down. What can I do now?

A.	You have the right to appeal. You should do this right away. You only have 60 days from the day you receive the denial notice to appeal, so do it right away. You may also want to talk with a lawyer. After you appeal, you will get a hearing with an administrative law judge. It is informal, but taped. You do not have to have a lawyer, but it might help. If you represent yourself, there is on this website a guide that might help you.


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	Last Reviewed On: 06/03/09

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This web site has been prepared for general information purposes only. The information on this web site is not legal advice. Legal advice depends on the specific facts of each situation. Some information in this web site may not be correct for where you are. The information in this web site is not guaranteed to be up-to-date. The information in this web site cannot replace the advice of competent legal counsel licensed in your state.

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