Hello Listmates. I have a very strange situation. My client had two children with a woman. The baby is only 6 or 7 months old and was left in the care of the maternal grandmother in New York. The older girl is 5, was born here, and resided here, and then the mother took off to China with her at the end of July. I am trying to track down an address for her. The parties were never married. I have requested birth certificates for both children. For the boy, I received a letter that no birth certificate exists. For the older girl, I need to request it. My client is uncertain if he is on either birth certificate and if he signed an acknowledgement of paternity. Do I need to file a paternity proceeding first for both children to obtain an Order of Filiation ( and do I do this by two separate petitions since there are two children), and then once I have that, file a petition for custody/visitation under the UCCJEA? Can I file both simultaneously? Thanks very much for any guidance. Best Regards, Gail B. Saul, Esq. THE SAUL LAW FIRM, LLP "Our Family Serving Yours" 377 Oak Street, Suite 210 Garden City, New York 11530 Tel.: (516) 794-1000 Fax: (516) 794-0359 THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS ATTORNEY PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY NAMED ABOVE. IF THE READER OF THE MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION OR COPY OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY US BY TELEPHONE AND RETURN THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE TO US AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS VIA THE US POSTAL SERVICE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.