Paternity Acknowledgment in the Civil Registry

Note: This content describes Brazilian notarial and civil registry law.

Em resumo

• The paternity and maternity acknowledgment in the Civil Registry (reconhecimento de paternidade e maternidade no Registro Civil) is a voluntary and irrevocable extrajudicial act that establishes the biological or socioaffective filiation bond directly on the birth record.
• Express consent from the child is mandatory when they are over 18 years old, and consent may be collected at the registry office of the city where the child resides.
• Mothers under 16 years of age register their children accompanied by their parents or legal guardians, without the need for the newborn's father to be present.
• The legal certainty of the acts and compliance with registry duties are guaranteed by services organized under the law (Lei nº 8.935/1994 [Notary and Registry Law], art. 1º).

Quem pode fazer o reconhecimento de paternidade e maternidade no Registro Civil?

The paternity and maternity acknowledgment in the Civil Registry can be done voluntarily by any father or mother who possesses civil capacity for acts of civil life Lei nº 10.406/2002 — Código Civil, art. 104. The declaration can be made at the time of birth or at any moment during the child's adult life. The act does not require a judicial process or a lawyer when there is agreement between the parties.

The procedure can be carried out before the official of the Civil Registry of Natural Persons (Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais – RCPN) of the place of residence or of the registry office where the birth was registered. If the person to be acknowledged is an adult, the legislation requires personal and express consent from the child (Código Civil [Brazilian Civil Code], art. 1º.614). If the child is a minor, the biological mother must give formal consent, except in cases where the mother herself performs the registration.

The attribution of notary and registry services guarantees the effectiveness of this public act, ensuring that the parental bond produces immediate legal effects (Lei nº 8.935/1994, art. 6º). In addition to biological acknowledgment, it is also possible to recognize socioaffective filiation directly at the registry office, in accordance with the general regulations published by the National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça - CNJ). To explore practical aspects of parental registrations in detail, you can read about Birth, Death, and Filiation Registration at the Registry Office.

Como colher a anuência de filha maior de idade que mora em outra cidade para reconhecimento de paternidade?

Obtaining consent from an adult child living in another municipality is a simple procedure in the paternity and maternity acknowledgment in the Civil Registry. The father or mother wishing to perform voluntary acknowledgment initiates the request at the Civil Registry in their own city. Since an adult child must expressly consent, this agreement does not require travel between states.

The adult daughter must go to the Civil Registry of Natural Persons or to a Notary Public Office (Tabelionato de Notas) in the municipality where she resides. At the local registry office, she signs an extrajudicial consent form or executes a public deed of consent. This mechanism respects individual autonomy of will and ensures practical convenience for the citizen.

After signing the documentation locally, the registry office transmits the signed consent form to the original birth registry office through the Electronic System of Public Registries (Sistema Eletrônico dos Registros Públicos – SERP) (Lei nº 14.382/2022, art. 3º). The registrar annotates the father's or mother's name and the grandparents' names on the birth certificate. If you wish to understand the use of public powers of attorney or representation at registry offices, consult the article on Public Power of Attorney.

FAQ

Who can perform paternity and maternity acknowledgment in the Civil Registry?

Voluntary acknowledgment can be performed by biological or socioaffective parents who possess civil capacity. When the child is an adult, their personal acceptance is mandatory for the act to be annotated on the birth record.

How to obtain consent from an adult daughter who lives in another city for paternity acknowledgment?

The adult daughter can present herself at the Civil Registry of Natural Persons or at a Notary Public Office in the city where she resides. She will sign the consent form, formalize it via extrajudicial document or public deed, and the office will transmit the document to the original registry service electronically.

In the maternity declaration of a mother under 16 years of age, is the presence of the father essential for signature?

The father's presence is not required for the young mother's maternity to be registered on the baby's birth certificate. Registration of maternity requires the Live Birth Declaration (Declaração de Nascido Vivo – DNV) and the accompaniment of the under-16 mother's parents or legal guardians to supplement civil capacity.

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