North Carolina § 130A-101 - Birth registration.

§ 130A-101. Birth registration.

A certificate of birth for each live birth, regardless of the gestation period, which occurs in this State shall be filed with the local registrar of the county in which the birth occurs within 10 days after the birth and shall be registered by the registrar if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this Article and the rules. When a birth occurs in a hospital or other medical facility, the person in charge of the facility shall obtain the personal data, prepare the certificate, secure the signatures required by the certificate and file it with the local registrar within 10 days after the birth. The physician or other person in attendance shall provide the medical information required by the certificate. When a birth occurs outside a hospital or other medical facility, the certificate shall be prepared and filed by one of the following in the indicated order of priority: The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person; Any other person in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person; The father, the mother or, in the absence or inability of the father and the mother, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred. When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance and the child is first moved from the conveyance in this State, the birth shall be registered in the county where the child is first removed from the conveyance, and that place shall be considered the place of birth. If the mother was married at the time of either conception or birth, or between conception and birth, the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child, except as provided in this subsection. The surname of the child shall be the same as that of the husband, except that upon agreement of the husband and mother, or upon agreement of the mother and father if paternity has been otherwise determined, any surname may be chosen. The name of the putative father shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child if one of the following conditions exists: Paternity has been otherwise determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, in which case the name of the father as determined by the court shall be entered. The child's mother, mother's husband, and putative father complete an affidavit acknowledging paternity that contains all of the following: A sworn statement by the mother consenting to the assertion of paternity by the putative father and declaring that the putative father is the child's natural father. A sworn statement by the putative father declaring that he believes he is the natural father of the child. A sworn statement by the mother's husband consenting to the assertion of paternity by the putative father. Information explaining in plain language the effect of signing the affidavit, including a statement of parental rights and responsibilities and an acknowledgment of the receipt of this information. The social security numbers of the putative father, mother, and mother's husband. The results of a DNA test that has confirmed the paternity of the putative father. If the mother was unmarried at all times from date of conception through date of birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate unless the child's mother and father complete an affidavit acknowledging paternity which contains the following: A sworn statement by the mother consenting to the assertion of paternity by the father and declaring that the father is the child's natural father and that the mother was unmarried at all times from the date of conception through the date of birth; A sworn statement by the father declaring that he believes he is the natural father of the child; Information explaining in plain language the effect of signing the affidavit, including a statement of parental rights and responsibilities and an acknowledgment of the receipt of this information; and The social security numbers of both parents. Each parent shall provide his or her social security number to the person responsible for preparing and filing the certificate of birth. When a birth occurs, the person responsible for preparing the birth certificate under this section shall provide the mother, father, or legal guardian of the child with information about how to request a protected consumer security freeze for the child under G.S. 75-63.1 and the potential benefits of doing so. The State Registrar, in consultation with the Child Support Enforcement Section of the Division of Social Services, shall develop and disseminate a form affidavit for use in compliance with this section, together with an information sheet that contains all the information required to be disclosed by subdivision (3) of this subsection. Upon the execution of the affidavit, the declaring father shall be listed as the father on the birth certificate, subject to the declaring father's right to rescind under G.S. 110-132 . The executed affidavit shall be filed with the registrar along with the birth certificate. In the event paternity is properly placed at issue, a certified copy of the affidavit shall be admissible in any action to establish paternity. The surname of the child shall be determined by the mother, except if the father's name is entered on the certificate, the mother and father shall agree upon the child's surname. If there is no agreement, the child's surname shall be the same as that of the mother. The execution and filing of this affidavit with the registrar does not affect rights of inheritance unless the affidavit is also filed with the clerk of court in accordance with G.S. 29-19(b)(2) . History (1913, c. 109, s. 13; 1915, c. 85, s. 1; C.S., s. 7010; 1957, c. 1357, s. 1; 1969, c. 1031, s. 1; 1979, c. 95, s. 4; c. 417; 1983, c. 891, s. 2; 1989, c. 199, ss. 1, 2; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1004, s. 6; 1993, c. 333, s. 1; 1995, c. 428, s. 1; 1997-433, s. 4.12; 1998-17, s. 1; 2005-389, s. 4; 2009-285, s. 1; 2013-378, s. 8; 2015-193, s. 4.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2009-285, s. 1, which amended subsection (e) and subdivision (f)(1), is applicable to birth certificates of children born on or after July 10, 2009. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2005-389, s. 4, effective December 12, 2005, in the third paragraph of subsection (f), deleted "and shall be presumed to be the natural father of the child" preceding "subject to the declaring" in the first sentence and added "In the event paternity is properly placed at issue" to the beginning of the third sentence; and made a minor punctuation change. Session Laws 2009-285, s. 1, effective July 10, 2009, and applicable to the birth certificates of children born on or after that date, rewrote subsection (e), and in subdivision (f)(1), added "and that the mother was unmarried at all times from the date of conception through the date of birth" at the end. Session Laws 2013-378, s. 8, effective October 1, 2013, substituted "10 days" for "five days in the first sentence of subsection (b). Session Laws 2015-193, s. 4, effective January 1, 2016, added subsection (h). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "'We Are Family': Valuing Associationalism in Disputes Over Children's Surnames," see 75 N.C.L. Rev. 1625 (1997).