Articles on Paternity
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate. Does my son’s father have any legal right to him if we were never married and he did not sign or put his name on the birth certificate? I have a three year old son who hasn’t seen his biological father since he was 7 weeks old. I’m getting married next month and my fiance wants to adopt my son. Where do I start? I got pregnant and I don’t live with the father of my baby. I’m afraid he’s going to move without telling me where to find him when the baby’s born. Can something be done if I contact a lawyer before he leaves? Can a grandparent demand a paternity test on the grandchild? With or without the parent’s consent? Can a biological father voluntarily give up his parental rights? There are processes for having a parent’s rights terminated, but is it the best thing to do? In a situation where the parents have been living together since prior to the child’s birth but have never been legally married, who is considered to have primary custody of the child? DNA paternity testing is the key to determining paternity. Unless both parents agree between them to an informal DNA paternity test, a court order will be required to get DNA paternity testing under way. This reader who is slated to take a DNA paternity test wants to know whether he can substitute somebody else in for that DNA paternity testing.
How Do I Have Child Support Modified if I Haven’t Even Been Allowed to See the Kids in 20 Years?
My divorce was signed in 1997. I am a disabled physician. The onset of the disability was 1/97 -and was a psych problem. Because of this, I signed a divorce giving my children 50% of my disability check until they were age 26. 1 child is 25 now, the other is 14. I have a child support order in Philadelphia, Pa. My daughter is 18 today, how do I have her emancipated and removed from the order? I wanted to know if I can be sued for not notifying my ex-fiance that my new husband has adopted his son. When I got pregnant I left California and had the baby in New Jersey. After the baby was born, I called him and he paid for the airplane ticket back. He rented a house for us in a bad neighborhood while he bought some land and started building us a house. We were only together for 3 months. We had a couple of arguments about where we lived and other things, and then I threatened to leave and take his son to New York and he slapped me. My wife had a son out of wedlock and was the custodial parent. The biological father agreed and a court order for child support was initiated, automatically deducting the child support from his retirement check. I have raised my step-son since day 1 and I love him like he is my biological child. He is now 14 years old. My wife passed away unexpectedly and I asked the biological parent to allow me and my wife’s mother co-guardianship, to which he agreed and it was ordered by the court. My sister has a 7 year old boy who has not seen his dad in about 2 years. The father is not on the birth certificate per his request because he did not want to have to pay anything when it came to his son. My sister moved to North Dakota when the baby was 1, to be closer to her family and to better her and her son’s life. The father had no problem with her moving since that way, he didn’t have to fork out the money to care for her or his son. The father lives in Oregon and my sister has taken their son out there to see him, but stopped 2 years ago because she can’t afford it. I met a girl who was 3 months pregnant, and was smoking meth “crank speed” every day from day 1. her mom threw her out, and the biological father offerd her money to have the baby “TAKEN CARE” of. When her mom heard the news, she threw her out of the house… I then took her in, and made sure she understood how the drugs was going to affect her baby in a negative way. I assured her that I wanted the baby as my own, and did the right thing according to my beliefs. I asked her mother if I could marry her, and told the “sperm donor” that if he did not want the child, I would raise him as my own. My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? My son is 20 and his girlfriend is 16 and having a baby. She got in trouble for truancy and lives with me, while my son lives with his grandma. They went to Maryland and got married, can they get in trouble? My wife had an affair four years ago and became pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. We worked through it all and have a handsome 3 year old boy. I have no interest in taking a paternity test. I’m on the birth certificate as the father. Now out of spite the biological father wants to see our son. He is not a good man by any means. What can he do if anything to make it happen and does he have rights after not wanting anything to do with him? I have been with my girlfriend for 3 years and we found a sperm donor so we could have a child. We had our son a year ago but I didn’t give him my last name. Now she is very sick with cancer, so my question to you is: how can I go bout giving him my last name and getting legal custody of him? Just in case something happens to her, I want to make sure that this matter is managed ahead of time. I live in Ohio. My soon to be ex-wife has denied me the right to be in the delivery room for the birth of our second child. Can she legally keep me away from the hospital and not allow me to see the baby at all? If my child’s father did not sign his birth certificate, does he have any rights to my child? My husband just recently found out that he has a 12 year old daughter after taking a paternity test in Texas. Here is the catch, they had another man sign the birth certificate when the child was first born. He died about 8 years ago. She just recently contacted us to tell him that he is the father. Does he have any rights? Also she is getting a Social Security check for the child and does not want to stop getting her benefits. However she wants him to also provide support. My Brother recently passed away and shortly after I was informed that his girlfriend of a year was pregnant. I made contact with her soon after this and learned that she was pregnant and believed it was his and was releasing the baby for adoption. She is living in an Adoption Network apartment in southern California. We expressed interest in adopting the baby and she mutually agreed that she would like for us to adopt the baby, but she needed to first check with her case worker. Back story: February 15th 1993 I had sex with a women (protection used) it was a one night stand. Four months later she meets up with me again, tells me she is pregnant and it is mine. I step up, provide financial support, went to the baby shower, listened to her on the phone, etc. Then in August she moved to Texas (I am in Arizona) – I get a call in late September that she is in labor and needs me to come to Texas – at this point the dates didn’t match up, so I requested a paternity test – provided her with all my information (full name, DOB, SSN, employer, etc.) but told her I was not sending any more money until paternity was established. I just discovered thru DNA testing that my “Dad” isn’t my “Father”. My Dad signed my birth certificate and raised me, but I’m not sure if he did it knowing I wasn’t his. My Father is dead, and my Dad never adopted me. So, what is my last name? Is it the same as my Dad because he signed the birth certificate, or is it the same as my Father because I wasn’t adopted? I was born in MA in 1960. A friend of mine recently met his daughter for the first time, he did not know that she existed until she found him, she is 13 years old. She is currently living with her grandfather on her mother’s side. Her mother died a few years ago. My friend would really like custody of his daughter. What would be the best course of action to getting custody of his daughter? They both live in California. I’m currently almost eight months pregnant. When I was five months pregnant the child’s father broke up with me and kicked me out his house. Since then I moved to another state with family, now my question is: as much I don’t want him in her life because of all the stress he caused me (I could have miscarried), if we go to court, what type of visitation rights might he get being he lives in a different state? My son was born in Illinois and when I signed the birth certificate with the man I was with at the time, he told me he wanted his name on it, even knowing that it was a 50% chance he was not the father. He pressured me at the time and I signed it with him. My son is now 12 and we are no longer together. We were together for 18 years, but never married. He took his own DNA test and is not the father. He said that I will go to jail for perjury because I signed him as the father. Can my ex-wife change my daughter’s last name without my consent? A few years back I got into some trouble because of poor decisions on my part. Ultimately I had to register as a sex offender. I did not go to prison and I did not lose visitation rights to my kids, in fact I still have custody of my son. A child is in Morris Co. NJ DYFS care, no father listed on birth certificate. A man was told he was the father of this child but the mother wanted to wait for paternity testing until she regained custody. Three months later, she has not regained custody. The alleged father calls DYFS, gives them all the information they asked for and is still waiting for the paternity test to be scheduled. I have always lived in California, yesterday I received a letter from the office of the Attorney General for the state of Texas notifying me that my child support case (which I was unaware of) was moved to a new office. This is the only communication I’ve ever received from them. I live in SC and by law my husband and I have to wait 1 year before we can file for our divorce. We have a 4 year old daughter who lives with me and has lived with me since our separation. Can I keep my daughter from seeing her father if I have proof of drug abuse and he has not tried to see her but 5 times during the 11 months we have lived separately? I am in the military and my wife has a child from a previous relationship in which she was never married and no custody agreement was every arranged and she has had her for her whole 7 years of life. They have lived with me for two years in which I have supported his child and I am on orders to go to Colorado, could we get in trouble for bringing her with us? Is it possible in Missouri or Illinois for me to adopt my girlfriend’s 16 month old daughter when her biological father has been out of her life for over a year with no contact? His name isn’t even on the birth certificate. I have been supporting her for the last year and wouldn’t change a bit of it. Our son dated a woman who was pregnant by a man that had no interest in being a father. Upon the birth, our son signed the birth certificate and raised the child as his own. Our son and the woman have since broken up. What rights does my son have? My fiance received a false order for child support from Division of Family Services in Missouri in December of 2010. He called them to schedule a hearing to disagree (this is what it said to do on the paperwork), because he is not the father of the said child. They told him he must get a lawyer to petition it, and we did not have the 1200.00 for the initial lawyer fee, nor the 500.00 additional needed for DNA testing nor have had the money since (especially since they have been taking half his wages in garnishment). My ex-wife went to law school and her attorney is her boyfriend. He did not serve me but said he did and as a result they were able to enter a default judgement, even though I am very involved in my son’s life and I AM THE PETITIONER! My husband is being told my his son’s mother that he has no rights to see his son. They had their son when they were young and although my husband has stayed in touch with the mother and the boy, he has never provided any child support (nor was any requested). The mother has married and told the boy her husband is his father. Does my husband have any rights? My ex hasn’t made any efforts to see our son for years and recently, following a paternity test, sued me for custody. My son has special needs and my ex is abusive and I need an attorney to fight this but can’t afford one. What are my options? I just discovered that another man is also paying child support for my child. What can I do? If a child is born to an unmarried couple and that couple marries and subsequently divorces noting that no child was born during the marriage, can the father claim the child? My daughter hasn’t seen her biological father in over a year. He is not named on the birth certificate nor does he support her, in any way. Can my new husband adopt her? My ex-wife, who has been in and out of jail and rehab, is requesting a paternity test in an effort to gain custody of our son. I have been the child’s sole caretaker for the past 4 years. Do I have to take a paternity test? My boyfriend/fiancee’s ex had a son without his knowledge. My boyfriend wants nothing to do with her or the child and she claims that there is no name on the birth certificate. Is there a way the adoption can be done with out a DNA test or going to a Wisconsin court? Hello I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 26. However I lied to him and told him I was 18. Can he still go to jail because I lied to him. Even if he just wants to help support his child? The biological father of my now 4 year old son left me when I was 7 months pregnant, he was seperated from his wife or so he claimed at the time, they have 2 young children. He is not on the birth certificate and only temporarily paid support from when my son was 3 months to 1 year old. I met my husband and moved to the USA with my ex telling me I was doing him a favor and all support stopped as he claimed he did not want to give money to me and my husband to spend! We have a daughter and loving sister for my son and I just want to make sure that my ex cannot do anything to ruin my family, can he claim custody? My brother wife of 15 years had a short affair, which ended in a pregnacy. My brother and his wife decided to work it out and tho he was not sure if baby was his or the OM he was willing to raise it as his own, his name is on the B/C. Last week he found out his wife and the OM secretly met a few weeks ago and had a private DNA test done, which proved that the other man was the father, and behind his back last week they started court procedures to establish other man as father and visitation. Does he have any rights to stop this? Can the wife do this all without his permission? My sister died in February 2007. She was married to the father of her two youngest children when she died. She has one older child with a different man. After her death both fathers signed a custody agreement for the three minor children to be raised by the maternal grandparents. Now both fathers are asking for custody of their respective children. We are afraid that the courts will allow the respective fathers custody and the children, who have expressed a desire to live with their father, will move and then later regret their decision. Do we have any hope of retaining guardianship of these children? I have recently came across and issue, I have gotten pregnant by a guy that had a girlfriend. Last week I got a call from both of them telling me that they would like me to have an abortion and that I was lying about my medical condition that would put me at risk if I were to have another abortion. My question is that with all of these emails at work and phone calls can I or should I file a Restraining Order on both of them? I have recently received a letter from a state agency wanting me to pay child support for a child that was born 15 years ago and that I don’t even know if it’s mine. From what I have found out so far, the man listed on the birth certificate had a DNA test done after the child was 3 years old and found out that it was not his child. However, he never had his name removed from the child’s birth certificate. I’d like to know if this man is still the legal father and therefore responsible to pay the child support and what kind of options I have in fighting this. So I guess what I want to know is if my son has any rights or do just the girl & her parents have all the rights. They are both 16 years old now & this is their baby – who then has the rights? My son & the ex or the ex’s parents? because every time we ask to see the baby it’s “I’ll have to ask my mom” My son does not have a job at this time & is going back to school in Jan. 07, he has had a lot of problems mentally dealing with everything & has depression & some other issues. Should we as his parents be paying the child support? We live in state of North Carolina & if my son wants to be in his childs life what steps does he need to take. What can I do as a parent to help him. My husband recently had an affair. The woman is pregnant and doesn’t want the baby. She has offered to let my husband and I have full custody. Am I correct in thinking that we would need to do a “stepparent” adoption? Does his name go on the Birth Certificate at birth? My sister had a baby out of wedlock and for about the first 12 months a man who was not the biological father took him about once a week or so. This man was an ex-boyfriend of my sister’s who was just simply a pest and nuisance. Now, a year later, he is trying to get custody. Can he do this? Even though he is not the biological father and has a terrible record? I am married and have two children with my husband. We are now separated because of an affair my husband had with a girl that is now saying he is the father of her son. What can I do as his wife to demand a DNA test? Do i have that right? I live in the state of Florida. I’m married with four beautiful children. I had a one night stand with another woman. A month later she told me was pregnant. I had a paternity test done and found out that I’m the child’s father. I’m sending money for the child. By the state of Florida am I required to sign the birth certificate even though its carrying my last name. In South Carolina can a woman put a fathers name on the birth certificate if he is not present and are they required by law at the hospital to I.D. the man? My fiancee is going through a divorce, it should be final in April. I got her pregnant and she is due in May. Is it true that because they were married when I got her pregnant that her soon to be ex-husband will be the legal father of the child? Does he have any rights to the child? Recently, my daughter has been told the truth about her “real” dad. I told the bio-dad of this, and he is THRILLED. He has been seeing her, and wants to establish paternity and get visitation, and pay child support. All the stuff a “dad” does. No-one wanted to take away anything away from my ex husband since he’s been a decent father to her all these years. He doesn’t want to work with us at all and change the visitation schedule so we can all have some time with her. I don’t blame him really, but no-one is trying to hurt him. My daughter wants to see her biological dad and her half brother and sister on his side. When my ex and I divorced, child visitation and support was detailed out in the paperwork. He says that if we want to change that we have to go to court. We are wondering if the bio-dad stands any chance to re-gain legal rights to his child since it’s been 12 years since she was born, and he has had no formal contact with her during that time. Her father and I were engaged to be married but broke up 4 months before she was born. He is in the army and was in the state of Hawaii through out my whole pregnancy. He never called to see if or when she was born. I met someone when she was 3 months old we have been together ever since and he has taken on the responsibility of being her father. My fiancee wants to adopt her. He loves her like his own. He has been there for all the doctor appointments, first shots, first word, first step, first everything. Will adopting her be expensive, and what about her bio-father. He never did sign her birth certificate. We are planning to get married in the fall of 2007 and wanted to add adoption to celebration. I am a father of two estranged children living with their mother. I’m being hit very hard with child support, recently I ran into my ex’s old best friend (they are no longer on speaking terms) and she said to me that my son is not actually mine (I have always suspected but never raised the matter.) If I have a dna test done and it shows that I am not his father, will I have to continue paying child support? I have a 4 year old son. My ex signed the birth certificate, but is not the father. I know who is dad is but not where. How can I make him take a paternity and make him pay child support as well as get my ex off the birth certificate. I have a 1 year old daughter the father and I were never married actually we were only together 2 months. He is not on the birth certificate and we haven’t had a dna test. We also don’t have any court orders to follow at this time. So my question to you is that if i wanted to move out of state would i be allowed to since we have no court orders papers or anything established at this time. I have my whole family out there and it would be nice to be out there. I just don’t want him to be able to stop me. My ex-girlfriend lied about my daughter’s birth date (09/30/05), so that she could keep me unaware of her birth. This was so she could claim she did not know who the father was and sign over parental rights to a family friend. How legal and binding is that in the state of Arizona? The hospital paperwork was stuffed in my ex’s diaper bag pocket by mistake. They show the signature of the new mom and my ex-girlfriend signing over her rights to the child. I filed for full custody about 2 weeks before I had knowledge of my daughter’s birth, since there is a history of depression and suicidal tendencies from the mother. How can I find out when my daughter went back to my ex-girlfriend and why the court is still allowing my ex-girlfriend to have joint custody, in light of this? Should there be something in writing, stating that my ex-girlfriend took my daughter back. Is that legal, seeing as how she was turned over at the hospital after birth and not through a normal adoption process? Can someone force me to have a paternity test done on my child? My husband and I have been married for over 4 years and have two beautiful children together. This past fall we went through a rough patch in our marriage and were “separated(not legally)” for a couple of months. We were still sleeping together at the time, but one night I made a HUGE mistake and slept with a man, that I had considered to be a good friend at the time. My husband knows of the incident and we have worked past that. We found out shortly after he moved back in that I am pregnant with our 3rd child and have been adjusting to that as well. This other guy has found out that I ma pregnant and will not stop sending me e-mail telling me that he is the father of this baby and is in contact with a lawyer and wants me to have a DNA test done. I live in Ohio and a few years ago I went to court for child support when the child turned nine years old and I asked the judge for paternity test, I was denied because the judge did not want to basturize the child. Is the judge allowed to deny paternity because of basturizing a child? I have a 6 month old daughter. Her biological father has never seen her and has never even asked to see her. He has brought up the fact that he would like to terminate his rights. I am engaged, and my fiance wants to adopt her. He has supported her financially, and was even in the delivery room when she was born. I would like to know if he can adopt her before we get married or if we have to be married first? Even though they have been separated for approximately 8 years and they live in different states she absolutely refuses to give him a divorce so he and I can get married. Who’s last name can I legally put on the birth certificate as the baby’s last name, mine or his? If I can give the baby his last name and she finds a way to keep avoiding divorce, does she have ANY rights what so ever to my child? Is there any way that I can take legal action to ensure that she has NO contact with my child even though she has not made any threats towards my unborn child, me or my boyfriend? If his name is on the birth certificate, does the biological father of my son have legal paternity if we were never married? I am now married to another man who would like to adopt my son. I would also like to secure a passport for my son and passport applications list that both parents need to file for the passport. My son is now 10 years old and his biological father has never met my son nor paid child support. Is it safe to say that I have sole and legal custody of my son? Will I have to contact the biological father and obtain his consent in order for my husband to adopt him? Is a judge allow to deny paternity test and rule the test out of the court if one is taken? “My husband and I live in Louisiana. Our marriage is his 2nd marriage. In his 1st marriage, his estranged wife became pregnant during a time when they had been separated on and off. They reunited right before the birth of a second child in 1995. (They already had one child together who was born in [...] I went to probate court to determine the amount of child support and while there I asked the judge about paternity test and I was denied paternity test because the judge did not want to bastardize the child. Can a judge deny a paternity test when my name is not on the birth certificate? My girlfriend and I are planning to get married. Just recently, she hit a pedestrian and the pedestrian sustained some injuries. Is it advisable for me and my girlfriend to get married? Can the pedestrian come after me and my assets if we get married? I was dating a woman for a short period when she became pregnant. If I do not sign the birth certificate or a paternity agreement, do not take a paternity test, and she does not pursue child support through the courts can the woman years later hold me liable for child support from the date of the birth? My son was living w/his than girlfriend and her two children (by two different fathers) She goes out almost every weekend by herself, goes on vacation to Florida, Puerto Rico by herself and always my son is here with his son and her other two children. Now, she decides that she’s leaving and taking the baby with her (my son’s baby) Does he have any grounds that he can use to get custody of his baby? I was never married, and CA is not common law – a 14yr relationhip, I have 3 children with this man who has a verbally abusive history with all in the family. We seperated now for 10 mos…What can I do to control his harrasing phone calls and emails? A restraining order? and how may I file for child support? I have a 14 year old step daughter who wants me to adopt her. Her real father pays support but talks to her seldom and hasn’t seen her in 8 years. Does this child have any rights or does she have to live with the fact that he said no? Do I have to have the fathers permission to have his name on the birth certificate? Can my child have a hyphenated last name (mine and the fathers) without his permission? My brother was unable to get any information out of the mother or see his son for several months. Since he found out that the mother placed the boy into the mental ward of a childrens hospital where the state took him over and placed him into a mental institute. He is still paying the mother child support even though the mother no longer has custody of the child. My brother loves his son and wants to get him out of this mess. What should he do? My daughter is 19 and is pregnant the father of the child wants to sign off his paternal rights. Can this be done? If my child lives in North Carolina and I live in New York, how would the amount that I am responsible to pay be determined? Now I am in the process of establishing paternity, child support and custody . He has been dodging service and completely not interested in seeing his son. Next month is the third time we will have to go to court. Will he get the credit back? He and i were never married…but from my understanding he is allegedly on drugs. He and i do not have the best relationship anymore…neither is his relationship with our sons on good terms. I know that he receives social security disability and i want to make sure that in the event that he dies…that there is a policy in place for him to have a burial. She is insisting that she wants the “so called father” to be a part of her life. She is 17 and he is 18, I was reading over the birth certificate papers and I thought that I understood it to say that since she is a minor that her parents or legal guardian had to also sign the BC. We also believe that he is not the father. During a part of our relationship, we were both doing cocaine and smoking pot. Since moving away with my son, I have become clean. I looked into the court system in Maine and it says I must live here for 6 months to take this to court for custody. I am 23 married and pregnant by another man. Does the child get to keep her fathers last name which is not my husband or will she be given my husbands last name? We are from the state of Maryland in a hopeful private adoption. The birth father contested the adoption in the very beginning. The baby was approximately 11 months when he found out he was the biological father. Our attorney offered him an open adoption plan which he agreed to. A couple weeks later he now changes his mind and says he wants custody. My husband (boyfriend at the time) is on my 6 year old daughter’s birth certificate. He has raised her and we are still married. Now, 6 years later another guy is making accusations that my daughter is his and that he went behind our backs and did a DNA test proving it? I would think that taking someones cells without permission would be illegal. She’s told me that he has threatened her before, but has never admitted to him actually hitting her. He also has a history of drug abuse and violent behavior. Though I am an outsider to the whole situation, I know she’s trapped and wants out. I was severely beaten and raped by an ex-boyfriend 3 months after the break up. The beating was so severe that I was in a coma for 4 days. I want to get him to sign away all his rights. Will his name still have to be on the birth certificate? In feb.06 his children’s mother died. He went to court for guardianship in July 06, and he was told his rights had been terminated by default. They (DHS) terminated his rights through publication. His tribe (native american) intervened and his children are in the tribes custody. I’m not married to the baby’s father and he is in the navy reserve does he have any rights? The child support I pay was increased even after the ex and I agreed to what amount was too paid. The root of the problem is I am the biological father of the child. I want to support her but I feel the amount is unfair. Is there anything I can do as far establishing paternity after the fact to reduce the support payment? My fiance was married for almost 8 years. His, at the time, wife had a child from another man. While they were married, they began to explore the process of adopting said son. Now that they are divorced, does he have to have the mother’s consent to adopt him still? Could the bio dad give up his rights to my fiance without the mother’s approval? If a pregnant woman leaves the state and has the baby without telling the alleged father, what are the alleged father’s rights? “Can the parents of deceased son be forced to submit to DNA testing. The son died eight years ago and the paternity of the child had never been established. Now the maternal mother has threatened to file a civil suit against the parents of deceased son if they do not comply with her request to submit to DNA testing. This is not a life-threatening situation.” I am wondering if I will have to notify my son’s biological father or have him sign off on anything in order to do so even though he did not sign the birth certificate.