State ex rel. Secretary for Dep’t for Children and Families v. Smith (Kansas 2017)

A Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) binds the signers unless it is revoked in the statutory time period. It does not create a presumption of paternity, as the father in this case argued. The father also argued the VAP did not qualify as an acknowledgement because it lacked certain formalities and that the VAP did not bind him because he did not read the acknowledgement or understand the terms. His arguments did not persuade the Court. The Court held the signatures on the VAP did not have to be notarized and that the terms of the VAP bound the father even if he didn’t read it or understand it.