HB 1343: Georgia's Responsible Fathers Act; enact

Under current Georgia law, a father of a child born out of wedlock generally must petition a court to be legally recognized as the child's father (called legitimation) before he can seek custody, visitation, or inheritance rights. This bill, called Georgia's Responsible Fathers Act, creates an additional path: within six months of a child's birth, the biological father can submit to genetic testing and petition the Department of Human Services directly for a legitimation order, which the department must decide within two months. The department can only grant the petition if the father has no family violence or certain criminal convictions, is not under a protective order, did not conceive the child through nonconsensual sex or with a mother under 14, and there is no other legal father. Once granted, the order is filed with the clerk of superior court, and the father and child can inherit from each other. The bill also requires hospitals and birthing centers to show new parents a legitimation education video and give them a pamphlet, and lets a birth certificate note that a father has begun genetic testing.

• Creates a new administrative legitimation process (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-22.1) letting a biological father petition the Department of Human Services for legitimation based on genetic testing, instead of only going through court.
• Requires the Department of Human Services to decide a legitimation petition within two months and sets conditions that can block approval, such as family violence convictions or a protective order.
• Updates the legal definition of 'legal father' in the juvenile code, domestic relations law, and child support law to include fathers legitimated or determined through this new process.
• Requires licensed general hospitals and birthing centers to show a legitimation education video and give a pamphlet to new parents before discharge.
• Allows a birth certificate to note that a putative father has submitted to genetic testing to establish paternity of a child born out of wedlock.
• Extends inheritance rights (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-3) so a child legitimated through the new Department of Human Services process can inherit as if born in marriage.

Unmarried biological fathers seeking legal recognition, mothers and children born out of wedlock, the Department of Human Services, hospitals and birthing centers, county clerks of superior court, and courts that currently handle legitimation and paternity cases.

Fathers who are not married to a child's mother could gain legal rights, such as inheritance and grounds to seek custody or visitation, through a faster administrative process rather than a court case. Hospitals would take on a new duty to inform parents about this option, and safeguards would screen out fathers with violent histories or nonconsensual conception.

• Section 1 names the bill Georgia's Responsible Fathers Act.
• Sections 2, 3, 6, and 9 update the definition of 'legal father' across the juvenile code, domestic relations law, and inheritance law to include the new administrative legitimation route and paternity orders under Article 3 of Chapter 7 of Title 19.
• Section 4 creates O.C.G.A. § 19-7-22.1, letting a biological father petition the Department of Human Services within six months of birth for legitimation based on genetic testing, with a decision required within two months.
• Section 4 bars approval if the father has family violence or related criminal convictions, is under a protective order, conceived the child through nonconsensual sex or with a mother under 14, or if another legal father already exists.
• Section 4 requires the department to file granted legitimation orders with the clerk of superior court and states that a legitimated child and biological father may inherit from each other.
• Section 7 requires hospitals and birthing centers to show new parents a legitimation education video and provide a pamphlet developed by the Department of Human Services before discharge.
• Section 8 allows a putative father to indicate on a birth certificate that he has submitted to genetic testing to establish paternity.
• Section 9 adds the new Code section as a basis for a child to inherit as if born in lawful wedlock under Georgia's estate law.

1. 2026-02-18House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2026-02-17House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2026-02-17House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)

• Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)Patrocinador principal
• Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Vance Smith (R, HD-138)

• paternity and legitimation
• child custody and visitation
• birth certificates
• family law
• fathers rights