Paternity

[huffamuse]

My exgirlfriend has decided to not fight me on visitation. She has also agreed to sign something saying I am thew legal father. Does this paper have to go through the courts, or can it just be notarized? Is there a specific paper we need to use, or just write something up? She is in South Carolina.

[tbyte]

For your protection, you should go through the courts.
You can write up an affidavit wherein you both acknowledge your paternity and then sign it before a Notary Public (your bank probably offers notary services for free).
You can then draft a parenting plan that addresses both visitation and child support and present it to the court.
The court may accept the plan as is, modify it, or reject it.
Most likely, they will review the child support amount. Include your respective incomes and expenses in a separate, signed affidavit, so they court may run the numbers through the State's child support formula if necessary.
And it would save you time if you had the agreement reviewed by an attorney before filing it with the court.

[huffamuse]

So we could draw up the papers, have them notarized and then I could file them myself? She doesn't want to get the courts involved. She says I woud end up paying more if we go through the courts about 700, but I checked out the online calculator and it was only about 500.

[tbyte]

I guess you could file them, with her signed affidavit.