You can acknowledge a child if you are not the child’s legal parent. It is possible only if you are not married or in a registered partnership with the mother. A stepparent can acknowledge a child if only the partner has parental authority over the child.
If parents are married, the father automatically becomes the legal father if a child is born within the marriage. This also applies to registered partners. For unmarried couples who have a child, the child’s biological father does not automatically become the child’s legal father under the law.
To become a legal father, the father will have to acknowledge the child. This is easily arranged by acknowledging the child before or after the birth of the child with the written consent of the mother at the civil registry of a municipality in the Netherlands. Also, upon acknowledgement, the child can be given the father’s gender name if the mother agrees.
If the mother refuses to cooperate in the recognition of a child, the biological father can ask the court for substitute consent for recognition. Before the judge makes a decision, a special curator is appointed by the judge. This special curator is the lawyer of the child in question and advises the judge whether recognition is in the best interests of the child.
If the court grants substitute consent for recognition, the way is open to ask for joint custody. If the child is recognized, the mother can ask for a financial contribution for the care and upbringing of a child, if the father does not yet contribute (sufficiently).
