ABSTRACT

The very fact that a child is born to its parents is the ground for the development of parental rights and obligations. In order to confirm parental rights and obligations, the parentage of the children must be appropriately certified. Since parental rights originate the instant the child is born, parents are entitled to care for and rear their child even before its birth is registered with ZAGS. The name of the child’s mother is recorded in ZAGS records in accordance with the certificate issued by the medical institution in which birth took place. Therefore, as a rule, there are no difficulties whatsoever in registering the mother as the parent of the child to whom she gave birth. If a child’s parents are not married to one another, the parents can establish paternity by filing a joint declaration with ZAGS. Parents have an obligation to protect the personal and property rights and interests of their minor children.