Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

Paternity

Recently my husband discovered through DNA testing the he is not the father of a child that he believed was his. He was married to the mother at the time of conception and lived with the mother and child for 1 1/2 years. The mother filed for divorce and moved in with another man. The child is now 12 years old. The child was not aware that the DNA testing was performed and we have told no one except an attorney about the results. The attorney told us that there is an "assumption of paternity" since he and the mother were married at the time of birth.

My questions are:

1: Can my husband have his divorce decree modified so that he is not required to pay child support any longer?

2: Can he expect to have any of the child support paid in the past reimbursed?

3: Would he have his "rights" such as vistitation revoked?

I would appreciate any answers to these questions and any other comments or suggestions that you may have


Asked on 6/27/00, 5:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glenn Loewenthal Glenn Loewenthal, P.C.

Re: Paternity

Chances are that he would be considered to have "virtually adopted" the child, and it would be difficult to for him to cut off his parental responsibilities. Under any circumstances, he would not get his prior child support reimbursed. Finally if he were successful in terminating his parental rights, he would no longer be entitled to visitation.

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Answered on 9/05/00, 4:45 pm


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