Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia
Can fathers promise be pursued
My son is about to turn 18. He will be starting the 12th grade this fall.
My son's father and myself were never married, though he admits he is my son's father and sees him on rare occasions (MAYBE once a year) and sends him presents on Christmas and on his birthday.
My problem is this... When my son was young his father was not making very much money and he promised that instead of monthly child support he would pay for all of my son's college expenses when the time came. Well that sounded like a pretty good deal to me at the time and actually still does. My problem is I do not have this in writing and I don't trust my son's father to follow through with his promise when the time comes. He is now living in Florida, is married with two kids, and has a good enough job to enable them to take ski vacations and golf all the time.
Where should I go to for assistance? I am not indigent, but I don't have a ton of money either.
I am pursuing this at my son's request.
I would appreciate any advice you have to offer on how I should pursue this issue and what the odds are on a positive outcome for my son.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can fathers promise be pursued
You will have to take action against him in FL. I would advise you to go ahead and contact an attorney in the county of his residence.
Re: Can fathers promise be pursued
Thanks for your inquiry.
This is indeed a strange one. You probably do not have an enforceable contract. Contracts not to be performed within one year from the making are not generally enforceable unless there is something signed by the party you are trying to enforce it against. So, if he renigs, you will not likely be successful in a traditional contract suit.
And, having never been married and having chosen never to prove paternity or seek support, you will have a hard time forcing it all out of him retroactively in a traditional family law action.
There may, however, be a theory you might be able to sue under known as promissory estoppel. If one relies to their detriment on the promise of another, and the promise is later broken, one may be able to sue for the cost of their reliance if their reliance on the promise was reasonable. Under this theory, if he renigs, the damage would be what his fair share of the child support would have been, rather than college tuition, but that could get you to close to the same place.
Of course, you would have to prove the promise was made to have any chance here. Hopefully, he either will come through, or will not deny the promise.
If he has no Georgia contacts, you may have to take action against him in Florida instead of Georgia.
Feel free to contact me with more details or updates any time at [email protected]. I would be willing to consider taking your case if I can, assuming he renigs and prefers to keep spending his money on green fees.
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