A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is a signed legal document through which a man and a child's mother jointly acknowledge that the man is the child's biological and legal father. It is typically completed at the hospital at the time of the child's birth but can be completed later.

A properly completed and filed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity creates legal paternity without a court proceeding. It can be rescinded within a short period after signing but becomes binding and can only be challenged in limited circumstances after that window closes.

Before signing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity understand that it creates both parental rights and parental obligations.