PATERNITY: Provides relative to authentic acts for acknowledgment of paternity

Children Healthcare

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Emily Chenevert
Last action: 2026-05-22
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 304
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Acknowledgment of Paternity

This act changes the requirements for acknowledging paternity, allowing parents to sign a voluntary acknowledgment without needing two witnesses and requiring hospital staff with notarial powers to authenticate signatures.

What This Bill Does

Changes the law so that both parents can sign an agreement about who the father is without needing two witnesses.
Requires hospital staff with notarial powers to confirm the signatures on these agreements.
Makes sure that signing this agreement has the same legal power as other official documents for changing or recording paternity information.

Who It Names or Affects

Parents who want to sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity in hospitals.
Hospital staff with notarial powers who will confirm the signatures on these agreements.

Terms To Know

Acknowledgment of Paternity: A legal document that states who the father is for a child.
Notarial Powers: The authority given to certain people, like hospital staff, to confirm signatures on important documents.

Limits and Unknowns

This law only applies to voluntary acknowledgments of paternity made in hospitals.
People under the age of eighteen who must establish paternity are not covered by this act and follow different rules.

Bill History

2026-05-22 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-05-22 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 304.
2026-05-19 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-19 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-19 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-19 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-18 S
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-07 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-05-06 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-05-05 S
Rules suspended. Reported favorably.
2026-04-01 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A.
2026-03-31 S
Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-03-31 H
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-03-30 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/31/2026.
2026-03-26 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-03-25 H
Reported favorably (11-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare.
2026-02-27 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
2026-02-26 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.
2026-02-26 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

PATERNITY: Provides relative to authentic acts for acknowledgment of paternity

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 535
BY REPRESENTATIVES CHENEVERT, ADAMS, AMEDEE, BAYHAM, BERAULT,
BILLINGS, BOYER, BUTLER, CARVER, DICKERSON, EDMONSTON, EGAN,
FISHER, HORTON, LACOMBE, LAFLEUR, MCFARLAND, OWEN, AND
WYBLE
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 40:46.12(E), relative to hospital-based paternity programs; to
3 provide relative to a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; to provide relative to
4 the formality of a voluntary acknowledgment; and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 40:46.12(E) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 §46.12. Hospital-based paternity program
8 * * *
9 E. A voluntary acknowledgment executed in accordance with this Section
10 shall be signed by both parents and the parents' signatures shall be authenticated by
11 a person possessing notarial powers in accordance with state laws and does not
12 otherwise require the presence or signature of two witnesses. Any acknowledgment
13 of paternity obtained through a hospital-based paternity program pursuant to the
14 process set forth in this Section has the same force and effect as an authentic act for
15 purposes of changing or recording the paternity of the child with the state registrar
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 535 ENROLLED
1 of vital records. The provisions of this Subsection do not apply to parents under the
2 age of eighteen who must establish paternity as otherwise provided by law.
3 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.