Recognising a child and requesting joint parental authority

Opening hours: 8h30 to 11h45 and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Recognising a child

What is the fee?

The stipulated fee is CHF 75 and may be accompanied by other costs.

What to do?

We would like to inform you that you can recognise a child in your will. This recognition only takes effect upon the death of the author of the recognition. For information concerning the conditions, please refer to the document at the bottom of the page (“Testamentary recognition”).

To initiate a recognition process, the father must complete the form entitled “Request with a view to recognition of paternity”, available below. It can be sent by e-mail on request and is available at the service walk-in counter, on the ground floor. 

This form must be returned to the Civil Registry Office by post or by e-mail (naissance.civ@ville-ge.ch) together with a copy of the father’s identity document. No information is given at the counter.

After examining the personal situation of the child and his/her parents, the Civil Registry Office will verify its jurisdiction and indicate the documents to be provided in order to complete this formality. If the father is a minor, under general guardianship or is subject to a power of attorney due to a long-term mental incapacity, the written consent of the legal guardian is required.

The original documents must be sent by post or deposited at the walk-in counter on the ground floor of the Registry Office.
If the documents presented are valid and the necessary conditions are met, the Registry Office will contact the father to set up an appointment in order to sign the declaration of recognition.

Where to complete this procedure?

Parents who are both Swiss and are resident in Switzerland

A father wishing to request pre-natal or post-natal recognition can contact the civil registry office in Switzerland.

Parents who are both of foreign nationality and are resident in Switzerland

A father wishing to request pre-natal recognition must contact the civil registry office of the municipality in which one or other of the parents is resident. For post-natal recognition, the father must contact the civil registry office of the district in which the child was born or the civil registry office of the municipality in which the father is resident or the civil registry office of the municipality in which the child is resident.

Parents of Swiss and foreign nationality who are both resident in Switzerland

A father wishing to request pre-natal recognition can contact the civil registry office of the municipality in which one or other of the parents is resident or the civil registry office of the municipality of origin of the Swiss parent. For post-natal recognition, the father can contact the civil registry office of the district in which the child was born or the civil registry office of the municipality in which the father is resident or the civil registry office of the municipality in which the child is resident or the civil registry office of the municipality of origin of the Swiss parent.

Parents who are both of foreign nationality and are resident abroad

A father wishing to request post-natal recognition must solely contact the civil registry office of the municipality in which the child is born. The civil registry offices in Switzerland do not have jurisdiction to register pre-natal recognition in this situation.

For unmarried parents, models of the agreements governing visiting rights, the father’s contribution to child maintenance and joint parental authority can be found on the website of Judiciary in Geneva.

Requesting joint parental authority

What to do?

In the event of recognition of the child in common of an unmarried couple, the parents can submit a declaration of joint parental authority to the civil registrar at the same time as the father recognises his child.

In Geneva, if the declaration of joint parental authority is not submitted at the time of recognition, the parents have to respect the procedure for joint parental authority fixed by the "Tribunal de protection de l’adulte et de l’enfant".

Before submitting the declaration, the parents can request advice from the Tribunal de protection de l’adulte et de l’enfant. The civil registry office provides no advisory service in this respect.

What impact does this request have on the child’s surname?

If it is the couple’s first child, the parents can declare that the child will bear the father’s unmarried name. If it is not their first child together, the child will bear the same name as his/her brothers and sisters.

Within a period of one year, the parents can declare to the civil registrar that the child will bear the unmarried name of the other parent. This declaration applies to all children in common.

Any subsequent change in the allocation of parental authority has no effect on the child’s name.

Any change of name for a child over the age of twelve requires the child’s consent.

A minor acquires the cantonal and municipal rights of citizenship of the parent whose name he/she bears.

What is the fee?

The fee for declaring joint parental authority is CHF 30.
The fee for declaring a name is CHF 75.

Agreement relating to the allocation of educational credits

When calculating old age pension, educational credits take account of the loss of income suffered by one of the parents after taking responsibility for their children. They are linked to parental authority. When submitting the declaration of joint parental authority, the parents can conclude an agreement concerning the allocation of educational credits before the child protection authority in the place of residence (at the time of birth) of the child’s mother.

Before the appointment made to request recognition, the parents can obtain information concerning the allocation of educational credits from the Cantonal Social Insurance Office. The civil registry office provides no advisory service in this respect.

Before the appointment made to request recognition, the parents can obtain information concerning the allocation of educational credits from the Cantonal Social Insurance Office. The Civil Registry Office provides no advisory service in this respect.