New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES
Chapter 110 - CHILD SUPPORT PROGRAM
Subchapter 12 - PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT
Section 10:110-12.2 - Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity
Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The OCSS shall establish and operate a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity program that shall be known as the Paternity Opportunity Program (POP). POP will allow for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity through the execution of a Certificate of Parentage, which shall have the same force and effect as a court order, or judgment of paternity.
(b) In all cases in which sufficient information is available to initiate paternity establishment proceedings, the parties, including an un-emancipated minor, shall be offered the opportunity to voluntarily sign a Certificate of Parentage (COP). If another man is presumed to be the child's father pursuant to 9:17-43 et seq., acknowledgment may be effected only if an affidavit of denial in accordance with 10:110-12.7(b)2 is signed by the presumed father, and the biological father and mother sign a COP.
(c) Prior to the parties signing the COP, both the custodial parent and the alleged father shall be notified of the legal consequences associated with signing the COP, their rights in the COP process, and the alternatives to signing the COP.
(d) The COP shall serve to satisfy the method of collection of Social Security numbers as required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:8-28c. The COP shall contain, at a minimum, the following information: