How to Complete and File the Arizona Acknowledgment of Paternity (CS-127)

To establish paternity in Arizona without going to court, both parents complete the Arizona Acknowledgment of Paternity Form CS-127, sign it in front of a notary or qualified witness, and send it to the Department of Child Support Services Hospital Paternity Program in Phoenix. Once accepted, the acknowledgment carries the same legal force as a court judgment of paternity and entitles the child to financial support, inheritance rights, and government benefits through both parents.¹

Where to Get the Form

Most parents receive the form at the hospital right after the child is born, and birthing facility staff should offer it and explain what signing means. If that didn’t happen, or if the child was born outside a hospital, you have three other options:

Request it by mail from the DCSS Hospital Paternity Program at P.O. Box 64533, Phoenix, AZ 85082, or call 602-771-8181 in Maricopa County or 1-800-485-6908 statewide.²
Download it from the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s digital library.³
Walk into any DCSS office. Staff can also help you complete an Affidavit Acknowledging Paternity (AAP) if you want to open a child support case at the same time. If you only want to establish paternity, ask for the CS-127.²

Who Can Sign

The form is for parents of a child born out of wedlock who both agree on the father’s identity. Both the mother and the man acknowledging paternity must sign voluntarily; coercion or duress makes the acknowledgment invalid.¹

If the mother was married at any point in the ten months before the child’s birth, Arizona law presumes her husband is the father. You can still use Form CS-127 in that situation, but only if the presumed father provides written consent or the presumption has been rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, such as a court decree establishing that someone else is the biological father. If the presumed father has died or cannot be found, paternity can be established without his consent.⁴

Information to Gather First

Mismatches between the form and your identification cause delays, so pull everything together before you sit down to fill it out.

For the child:

Full name as it appears, or will appear, on the birth certificate
Date of birth
Place of birth: city, county, state, and hospital⁵

For each parent:

Full legal name (mother also provides maiden name)
Date of birth
Social Security number
Current address
Employer and occupation
Valid photo identification to show the witness or notary⁵

Spell every name exactly as it appears on each parent’s government-issued ID.

How to Sign the Form

The form itself is straightforward: biographical details for the child, then the mother, then the father. Where people trip up is the signature step.

Both parents must sign in front of a notary public or a qualified witness.¹ Do not sign ahead of time. A form that arrives already signed will be rejected.

Signing at the Hospital

Hospital staff trained under Arizona’s Hospital Paternity Program can serve as witnesses. They will check your ID, watch you sign, and add their printed name and address to the form. Everything happens in one place while you’re still there, which is why this is the simplest path.

Signing Outside the Hospital

If you’re signing after discharge, you can use a notary public or a qualified witness. The witness must be at least 18 years old and cannot be related to either parent by blood or marriage.⁶ The witness provides a printed name and residential address on the form; employees of DES, the Department of Health Services, or a hospital may use their business address.¹

If both parents cannot be in the same place at the same time, the statute allows two separate notarized or witnessed statements acknowledging paternity, as long as they are substantially similar.¹ Without proper notarization or witnessing, the acknowledgment is unenforceable and the father’s name will not be added to the birth certificate.

Where to Send It

If you signed at the hospital, staff usually submit the form for you through the Hospital Paternity Program. Otherwise, mail all pages to:

DCSS Hospital Paternity Program – HPP
P.O. Box 64533
Phoenix, AZ 85082⁵

The statute also permits filing with the Clerk of the Superior Court or the Department of Health Services directly.¹ In practice, both the CS-127 and the Affidavit Acknowledging Paternity route through the Hospital Paternity Program.² There is no fee to file the form.

What Happens After the Form Is Accepted

Once the Department of Health Services accepts the acknowledgment, it issues a new birth certificate listing the father’s name. A certified copy of the updated certificate costs around $20. A later correction or amendment typically runs about $30 and includes one corrected certificate.⁷⁸

The acknowledgment also opens up rights beyond the certificate itself. The child becomes eligible for the father’s health insurance, Social Security survivor or dependent benefits, Veterans Affairs benefits, and inheritance rights on the father’s side of the family.⁵

Paternity Is Not Custody

Signing the CS-127 establishes the legal father-child relationship. It does not give the father custody or visitation rights. Under Arizona law, the parent the child has lived with for the greater part of the last six months has legal decision-making authority unless a court orders otherwise.⁹ For most newborns, that means the mother.

To obtain a court-ordered parenting time schedule or shared legal decision-making, the father must file a separate petition in Superior Court. The Maricopa County Superior Court, for example, provides self-service forms for parents who have already established paternity through the acknowledgment process and now want the court to formalize custody and parenting time.¹⁰ Either parent can also request child support as part of that proceeding.⁹

How to Rescind If You Change Your Mind

Either parent can withdraw their signature within a limited window: the earlier of 60 days from the date the last parent signed, or the date a court proceeding involving the child (such as a child support case) begins.¹

To rescind, complete Form CSE-0258A, the Affidavit of Paternity Rescission, available through the DCSS digital library.¹¹ Mail it to the same Hospital Paternity Program address used for the original acknowledgment, and notify the other parent that you’ve filed.¹²

Act quickly. Once the window closes, the acknowledgment becomes a final judgment. After that, the only way to undo it is a court challenge based on fraud, duress, or a material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof falling on whoever is bringing the challenge.¹ A DNA test showing someone else is the biological father would qualify as a material mistake. While the challenge is pending, child support and other obligations remain in effect unless the court finds good cause to suspend them. If there is any doubt about biological paternity, rescinding within the 60-day window is far simpler than litigating after it closes.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-812 – Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity; Action to Overcome Paternity
2
AZ Court Help. FAQ – Paternity
3
Arizona Department of Economic Security. Acknowledgment of Paternity (English / Spanish)
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-814 – Presumption of Paternity
5
Arizona Department of Economic Security. Acknowledgment of Paternity Form CS-127
6
Maricopa County Superior Court. Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity with Affidavit
7
Maricopa County, AZ. Order a Birth or Death Certificate
8
Pima County, AZ. Correct or Change a Certificate
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 25-803 – Persons Who May Originate Proceedings; Legal Decision-Making and Parenting Time
10
Maricopa County Superior Court. Establishing Legal Custody, Parenting Time, and Child Support
11
Arizona Department of Economic Security. Affidavit of Paternity Rescission (English/Spanish)
12
Arizona Department of Economic Security. Completion Instructions for CSE-0258A Affidavit of Paternity Rescission