Obsolete 0117 - 229-1 Parent

Effective Date: April 1, 2008 - December 31, 2016

Contact DWS Program Specialist for previous policy

A “Parent” includes: natural parents, adoptive parents, step-parents and any person listed as a parent on a legal birth certificate.

1. Natural Mother

When a woman's name appears on the birth record of a child, she is a natural parent.

2. Natural Father

Treat the man as the natural parent when he has acknowledged a relationship to his child.  Relationship can be established for a child when:

1. The parents have a solemnized marriage at the time of conception or birth, OR

2. Through court action naming a man as the father, OR

3. A man signs, with Vital Statistics, an "Acknowledgment by Parents", OR "Acknowledgment by Father," or

4. A man signs Form 941.

3. A step-parent is a person who is married to a natural parent.  The marriage can be a solemnized marriage or common-law marriage (see 229-4).  Step-parents have the same financial responsibility as natural parents.

4. An adoptive parent is one who has legally adopted a child.  Adoptive parents have the same financial responsibility as natural parents.

5. Any person who is listed as a parent on legal birth certificates (or adoption papers) from another state or country. This applies even if both parents listed are of the same sex.