Birth Records and Parentage

Birth records include the names of legal parents. The marital status of a person giving birth affects how parents are listed on the birth record.

• If the child’s parents are married or, for widowed or divorced parents, married within 280 days before birth: The person giving birth and their spouse are presumed the legal parents of the child under Minnesota law. Both of their names appear on the birth record.
• If the person giving birth is not married: There is no presumed second parent; the person giving birth is the only recognized legal parent at the time of birth.
• If the person giving birth is married but not to the biological father: The birthing parent’s spouse is presumed the parent unless they take action to end their legal relationship with the child. 

Establishing parentage

Establishing parentage allows a parent to be listed on a birth record or added to a birth record after the birth is registered. Parentage can be established by a voluntary acknowledgement, adoption, or court order. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) charges a $40 fee to add a legal parent's name to a birth record with a court order. There is no fee to add a legal parent’s name to a birth record with a voluntary acknowledgement.

Minnesota’s voluntary acknowledgement allows an unmarried person who gave birth and the child’s biological father to sign a Minnesota Voluntary Recognition of Parentage (PDF) (ROP) form. When the ROP form is filed with MDH, we will add the father to the birth record, legally establishing the father’s paternity. Same-sex couples cannot use an ROP form to establish parentage. 

NOTE: The MDH fax number for ROPs is changing. Please use 877-490-5564 when faxing an ROP. 

If the person giving birth is married but not to the biological father, the birthing parent’s spouse (presumed parent) may complete a Spouse's Non-Parentage Statement (PDF) (SNPS) within a year of the birth, when a corresponding recognition of parentage form is filed by the person giving birth and the biological father. In this situation, the ROP and the SNPS must be filed with MDH to be valid. After they are filed, the legal relationship between the presumed parent and the child ends. 

After a court order (parentage adjudication) or ROP form is filed, MDH replaces the original birth record so the record shows the new parent information. The original record and all correspondence pertaining to it are sealed, making it confidential and only released according to Minnesota law.

To revoke a completed ROP or SNPS, a parent or spouse on the record must sign a written revocation in front of a notary public and file it with MDH within 60 days of date of the last signature on the form. 

For information on getting a court order, please see the Minnesota Judicial Branch website. Learn more about adding parents to the birth record on the Establishing parentage webpage.

Instructions for courts and child support