A friend jokingly commented on my post on Child Support that he wasn't the father. That was a pretty good transition to this very important subject of challenging paternity. First off, I want you to know that I believe that parents should provide for their children. That being said, I also believe that a man should not be forced to support a child who is not his and I think most folks would agree with that.
I have a client who is in a fairly common situation. Years ago his girlfriend at the time told him that he was the father of her child, he is named as the child's father on the birth certificate and he voluntarily supported the child. Some years later after they had broken up, she informed him that he wasn't the father and he stopped voluntarily paying child support. Recently the state in which the child now lives has gone after my client for child support. This example goes to show that the issue of paternity will come back around unless you deal with it.
The patchwork of state and federal laws dealing with child support collection don't allow a situation like this to be dealt with as simply as just informing them that my client isn't the father. Appropriate paternity testing will have to be done and, in cases where the father has signed an affidavit of paternity or there has been an order or decree regarding paternity, it gets much more complicated. In any event, if you're named as the father on the birth certificate of a child who you now believe is not yours or, if it's a little further down the road and you've received a summons informing you that an action for child support has been commenced against you, make sure that you're informed of your rights by contacting an attorney as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading,
Eric
____________________________________________
Eric L. Johnson
Attorney at Law
914 Hay Street, Fayetteville, NC 28305
Tel: (910) 691-8600
Fax: (910) 222-3059
Email: elj@eljlaw.com
Web: http://www.eljlaw.com
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