Under the
provisions of the legislation, the Michigan Department of Community Health would
be required to develop an online registry for fathers to admit paternity of a
child who was born outside the confines of marriage. A father would be legally
required to register within five business days of the child’s birth in order to
receive information on paternity hearings. If a father does not register within
the specified timeframe, his parental rights could be terminated for any child
born after October 1, 2014.
The Michigan
Probate Judges Association expressed concern during the committee hearing that
a father’s parental rights could be unfairly terminated as a result of this
legislation. If the mother provides misleading information to the father on the
status of the pregnancy, a father may fail to register and thus lose his
rights.
The Committee also briefly discussed two bills (House Bills 4436 and
4437), introduced by Rep. Marilyn Lane (D-Fraser), which would allow an
individual to receive extended medical care at an adult foster care home. Additionally,
Medicaid payments would be directly submitted to the adult foster care home.
House Bill 4437 would allow the retroactive spend down of funeral costs.
The Committee will not meet next week; however, Committee
Chair Rep. Ken Kurtz (R-Coldwater) indicated House Bills 4436 and 4437 would be
brought up at a later date for further discussion.