Legal Question in Family Law in District of Columbia
Establishing paternity and getting custody
My husband has a 4 year old daughter by a woman who was married to someone else when the daughter was conceived and my husband's name is not on the birth certificate. He pays the mother monthly for child support that they arranged on their own. The mother and daughter live in California and we live in DC. The mother has not contacted us in over 6 months and we want to know how we can find them, establish paternity, and file for custody. The mother will not return any calls or email messages and we do not know if she still resides at the only address we have for her. What can we do, we believe the child is in an unhealthy environment as the mother frequently changes boyfriends and moves in with each one.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Establishing paternity and getting custody
The USPS should be able to confirm whether this person still receives mail at the one address which you have for her. However, if your locator efforts require something beyond that, you will likely need to
hire a local California PI to undertake a more detailed investigation to determine exactly where this mother and child currently reside.
Once you have this address, you could then file an action in the appropriate California family court to have a paternity test ordered,and, depending upon the result, then pursue a custody determination through that same California court.
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