Question about birth certificate law in 1941?

Question

My dad was born March 1941. If his parents were not married, could his mom have put his dads last name on the birth certificate? My dad died in 1973, so I cant ask him anything, he has no family on his fathers side and the mothers side of the family does not know anything for sure. I am looking for my grandfathers family. All I know about him is his name is James Mashburn, From Alabama.

Answer 1

Laws regarding birth certificates vary from state to state.  You should research the website for the Dept. of Vital Statistics for the particular state you are inquiring about.

Answer 2

The mother had the choice to either name the father, or leave the name out. Some mothers don't know the father of their child (eg in cases of rape), and some mothers do, but if they're not married, or he IS, she may choose not to name him.

A woman would not have been condemned in the 1940s for having a child out of wedlock, though her family wouldn't have liked it much. But she's perfectly within her rights to withhold that information.

If you can't ask your father, perhaps you could look on his death certificate. Sometimes fathers' names appear on the death certificate, even if they're not on the birth certificate.

But bear in mind, they could have named a stepfather or someone who was LIKE a father. It all depends on who the informant thought the deceased's parents were.

Answer 3

As the previous poster stated, laws vary by state. I don't think many of the sites are going to cover that particular topic, I would call a historical society in that area to ask that question. If they don't have the answer, they will usually find it for you.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

The law is actually pretty straight-forward. She could only name the father in such a case if he signed a form permitting his name to be listed. It had to do with inheritance laws as much as anything. If he signed the form and was listed on the birth certificate, then the child was eligible to be his heir. If he refused to sign the form, then the child was not eligible to be his heir. The law didn't change on that until the early 70s. Alabama was not quick to change the law to recognize illegitimate children.