Acknowl­edg­ment of Pater­ni­ty (AOP)

A presumed father is a man to whom the mother is currently married, a man to whom the mother was married to and the marriage ended within 300 days prior to the child's birth or a man who continuously lived with the child and represented himself as the child's father the first two years of the child's life.

In this case, the "Denial of Paternity" section of the AOP must be completed by the mother and her spouse (presumed father) before paternity can be established.

Tell your AOP-certified entity. There are special steps that can be taken so that parents complete the AOP at separate times, dates or locations.

Anyone who signs the AOP may file a "Rescission of the Acknowledgment of Paternity" form (VS-158) to rescind the AOP. The form must be filed within the first 60 days after the AOP has been filed with the Vital Statistics Unit (VSU) or before a legal proceeding related to the child is initiated, whichever comes first.

After that, a person may challenge the AOP in court under certain situations. Parents must read the AOP carefully before signing it. The AOP is a legal document.