Legal Question in Family Law in California
I have a son who is 7 years old and do not have established paternity for this child, he has my last name but there is not father listed on the birth certificate. The mother is not able to submit a declaration of paternity because she was married but separated from her husband when my child was born. We are both in the military and she recently transferred out of the country unannounced after I told her I was taking her to court to do a DNA test. Now that she is out of the country what are my legal options, can I file for paternity in the state I live in even if she is in a foreign country? I pay support to her monthly but it is not court ordered because she has been difficult in willinigly letting me establish paternity. I have no contact information with her and she has left the country what do I do?
3 Answers from Attorneys
I'm assuming that she is deployed? Unfortunately you are going to have to litigate paternity when she gets back. She is not going to be able to submit to genetic testing while she is deployed, and the Soliders and Sailors Civil Relief Act is going to give her some protection from you bringing default proceedings while she is gone.
You service members are supposed to take care of these things before you go on deployment. That is why you are given time off in the months before deployment, so that these problems don't crop up while you are gone. You two should have worked this out before she left.
You do not need to wait for anything. You should immediately proceed with your paternity action. It can be brought in California if the child was either conceived, born or lived in California. You should have an attorney as there is a minefield of problems. If she moved from the country within the last month or so you may be able to get the court to order that the child be returned to California. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
The advice so far is disappointingly half-accurate. We can't answer your question because you are unclear on where the child is. Where the child presently lives and where the child has lived for the last continuous six months he has lived in one place are crucial. Until you provide that information we cannot tell you anything accurately.