Legal Question in Family Law in California

My husband just left me a week ago, straight up walked out the door saying he never loved me. As i later find out he has another girlfriend. He requested a paternity test on the son he signed the birth certificate for. 1 child is biologically his and the 4 other are not ( the one he signed the birth certifcate is not his as i now find out) but he has taken sole care of all of the kids since we have gotten married 7 years ago. Now for my question the kids all see him as daddy and want to be apart of his life. i know i can't force him to see them or even support them even though he was the only one who took care of them before he found his girlfriend? i really just want my kids taken care of and he is taking everything they knew away.


Asked on 10/03/11, 9:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edmund Montgomery Law Office of E. L. Montgomery

Concerning the child he signed the birth certificate for. If he was going to contest paternity he would have had to object to it within two years of the child's birth. It sounds like it is too late for him to request a paternity test.

I do not know if the other children know who the real father is. If they do not and they always believed that your husband was their father he might not be able to deny parentage in that case also. He would be the Father under the doctrine of parentage by estoppel. He is stopped from claiming they are not his children because they always believe he was their father and he held himself out to the public as their father.

If he is the father of the children he has the legal obligation to support them.

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Answered on 10/14/11, 11:29 am


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