KRS § 213.046 Registration of births required -- Establishment of paternity -- Duties of institution and cabinet -- Contents of birth certificate.

213.046 Registration of births required -- Establishment of paternity -- Duties of institution and cabinet -- Contents of birth certificate. (1) A certificate of birth for each live birth which occurs in the Commonwealth shall be filed with the state registrar within five (5) working days after such birth and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section and applicable administrative regulations. No certificate shall be held to be complete and correct that does not supply all items of information called for in this section and in KRS 213.051, or satisfactorily account for their omission except as provided in KRS 199.570(3). If a certificate of birth is incomplete, the state registrar shall immediately notify the responsible person and require that person to supply the missing items, if that information can be obtained. (2) When a birth occurs in a health facility or en route thereto, the person in charge of the health facility or that person's designated representative, shall obtain the personal data, prepare the certificate, secure the signatures required, and file the certificate as directed in subsection (1) of this section or as otherwise directed by the state registrar within the required five (5) working days. The physician, midwife, or other person in attendance shall provide the medical information required for the certificate and certify to the fact of birth within five (5) working days after the birth. If the physician, midwife, or other person in attendance does not certify to the fact of birth within the five (5) working day period, the person in charge of the health facility shall complete and sign the certificate. (3) When a birth occurs in a health facility or en route thereto to a woman who is unmarried, the person in charge of the health facility or that person's designated representative shall immediately before or after the birth of a child, except when the mother or the alleged father is a minor: (a) Meet with the mother prior to the release from the health facility; (b) Attempt to ascertain whether the father of the child is available in the health facility, and, if so, to meet with him, if possible; (c) Provide written materials and oral, audio, or video materials about paternity; (d) Provide the unmarried mother, and, if possible, the father, with the voluntary paternity form necessary to voluntarily establish paternity; (e) Provide a written and an oral, audio, or video description of the rights and responsibilities, the alternatives to, and the legal consequences of acknowledging paternity; (f) Provide written materials and information concerning genetic paternity testing; (g) Provide an opportunity to speak by telephone or in person with staff who are trained to clarify information and answer questions about paternity establishment; (h) If the parents wish to acknowledge paternity, require the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity obtained through the health facility-based program be signed by both parents and be authenticated by a notary public; (i) Upon both the mother's and father's request, help the mother and father in completing the affidavit of paternity form; (j) Upon both the mother's and father's request, transmit the affidavit of paternity to the state registrar; and (k) In the event that the mother or the alleged father is a minor, information set forth in this section shall be provided in accordance with Civil Rule 17.03 of the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure. If the mother or the alleged father is a minor, the paternity determination shall be conducted pursuant to KRS Chapter 406. (4) The voluntary acknowledgment of paternity and declaration of paternity forms designated by the Vital Statistics Branch shall be the only documents having the same weight and authority as a judgment of paternity. (5) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall: (a) Provide to all public and private health facilities offering obstetric or midwifery services in the state written materials in accessible formats and audio or video materials concerning paternity establishment forms necessary to voluntarily acknowledge paternity; (b) Provide copies of a written description in accessible formats and an audio or video description of the rights and responsibilities of acknowledging paternity; and (c) Provide staff training, guidance, and written instructions regarding voluntary acknowledgment of paternity as necessary to operate the health services-based program. (6) When a birth occurs outside a health facility, verification of the birth shall be in accordance with the requirements of the state registrar and a birth certificate shall be prepared and filed by one (1) of the following in the indicated order of priority: (a) The health care provider in attendance at or immediately after the birth; or, in the absence of such a person, (b) A midwife or any other person in attendance at or immediately after the birth; or, in the absence of such a person, (c) The father, the mother, or in the absence of the father and the inability of the mother, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred or of the health facility to which the child was admitted following the birth. (7) No physician, midwife, or other attendant shall refuse to sign or delay the filing of a birth certificate. (8) If a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States and the child is first removed from the conveyance in the Commonwealth, the birth shall be registered in the Commonwealth, and the place where the child is first removed shall be considered the place of birth. If a birth occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the child is first removed from the conveyance in the Commonwealth, the birth shall be registered in the Commonwealth, but the certificate shall show the actual place of birth insofar as can be determined. (9) The following provisions shall apply if the mother was married at the time of either conception or birth or anytime between conception and birth: (a) If there is no dispute as to paternity, the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child. The surname of the child shall be any name chosen by the parents; however, if the parents are separated or divorced at the time of the child's birth, the choice of surname rests with the parent who has legal custody following birth; (b) If the mother claims that the father of the child is not her husband and the husband agrees to such a claim and the putative father agrees to the statement, a three (3) way affidavit of paternity may be signed by the respective parties and duly notarized. The state registrar of vital statistics shall enter the name of a nonhusband on the birth certificate as the father and the surname of the child shall be any name chosen by the mother; and (c) If a question of paternity determination arises which is not resolved under paragraph (b) of this subsection, it shall be settled by the District Court. (10) The following provisions shall apply if the mother was not married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth or the marital relationship between the mother and her husband has been interrupted for more than ten (10) months prior to the birth of the child: (a) The name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth. The state registrar shall upon acknowledgment of paternity by the father and with consent of the mother pursuant to KRS 213.121, enter the father's name on the certificate. The surname of the child shall be any name chosen by the mother and father. If there is no agreement, the child's surname shall be determined by the parent with legal custody of the child; (b) If an affidavit of paternity has been properly completed and the certificate of birth has been filed accordingly, any further modification of the birth certificate regarding the paternity of the child shall require an order from the District Court; (c) In any case in which paternity of a child is determined by a court order, the name of the father and surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in accordance with the finding and order of the court; and (d) In all other cases, the surname of the child shall be any name chosen by the mother. (11) If the father is not named on the certificate of birth, no other information about the father shall be entered on the certificate. In all cases, the maiden name of the gestational mother shall be entered on the certificate. (12) Any child whose surname was restricted prior to July 13, 1990, shall be entitled to apply to the state registrar for an amendment of a birth certificate showing as the surname of the child, any surname chosen by the mother or parents as provided under this section. (13) The birth certificate of a child born as a result of artificial insemination shall be completed in accordance with the provisions of this section. (14) Each birth certificate filed under this section shall include all Social Security numbers that have been issued to the parents of the child. (15) Either of the parents of the child, or other informant, shall attest to the accuracy of the personal data entered on the certificate in time to permit the filing of the certificate within five (5) days prescribed in subsection (1) of this section. (16) When a birth certificate is filed for any birth that occurred outside a health facility, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall forward information regarding the need for an auditory screening for an infant and a list of options available for obtaining an auditory screening for an infant. The list shall include the Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs, local health departments as established in KRS Chapter 212, health facilities offering obstetric or midwifery services, audiological assessment and diagnostic centers approved by the Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs in accordance with KRS 211.647 and licensed audiologists, and shall specify the hearing methods approved by the Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs in accordance with KRS 216.2970. (17) As used in this section, "health facility" has the same meaning as in KRS 216B.015. Effective: June 27, 2025 History: Amended 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 121, sec. 8, effective June 27, 2025. -- Amended 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 207, sec. 23, effective July 15, 2024. -- Amended 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 36, sec. 25, effective July 15, 2020. -- Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 102, sec. 4, effective June 25, 2009. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 433, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 308, sec. 27, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 255, sec. 14, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 426, sec. 383, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 365, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 405, sec. 81, effective July 15, 1994. – Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 166, sec. 2, effective July 14, 1992. -- Created 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 369, sec. 8, effective July 13, 1990. Legislative Research Commission Note (6/27/2025). 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 121, sec. 24, provides that the Act, which amended this statute, may be cited as the Mary Carol Akers Birth Centers Act. Legislative Research Commission Note (8/23/2019). In 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 1, the General Assembly renamed the "Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs" as the "Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs." A reference to that "Commission" was changed to "Office" in subsection (16) of this statute. This name correction should have been addressed when 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 114 was codified, but it wasn't. This change is being made now under the authority of KRS 7.136(2). Legislative Research Commission Note (7/14/2018). Under the authority of KRS 7.136(2), one or more references to the "Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs" in this statute have been changed in codification to the "Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs" to reflect the renaming of the commission by the General Assembly in 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 114.