HB 2174 Summary

• Establishes paternity acknowledgment procedures allowing both parents of a child born out of wedlock to amend the birth certificate by filing a notarized or witnessed acknowledgment form with required notices about legal consequences and available services.

• Defines "father" for child welfare proceedings to include presumed fathers, men who file paternity actions within 15 days of birth, those who acknowledge paternity within 15 days of birth, and men registered with the putative father registry who file paternity actions timely.

• Requires diligent search efforts to locate biological parents, including mandatory searches of the Missouri putative father registry, with courts able to excuse searches when father's identity is unknown.

• Creates new waiver provisions allowing men whose consent to adoption is not required to waive intervention rights in adoption or termination proceedings unless they can prove a consistent and substantial relationship with the child including financial support, visitation, and care.

• Authorizes post-adoption contact agreements between adoptive parents and biological parents or relatives when the prospective adoptee is at least two years old, with court approval and enforcement available unless contrary to the adoptee's best interests.