Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

have a question I hope you can help me with. About 2 1/2 years ago my sons ex-girlfriend had a baby and as they had broken up prior to her knowing she was pregnant, we had no idea that he was a father. The ex-girlfriend told her boyfriend at the time that he was the father. He had no reason to doubt her. They were not married and upon the birth of my granddaughter he signed the acknowledgement of paternity papers. About a year later while the "legal" father was in Afghanistan serving our country, my son's ex-girlfriend came to him and told him that he was the biological father of this year old baby girl. She took my son to get a DNA test to prove to him that he was the biological father of her baby. After that we have been fighting in court (unrepresented) to establish parentage. We were told today that due to the boyfriend at the time signing the voluntary parentage paper that we had no case. That biological testing wouldn't hold up in court. We have 30 days to find a case in Illinois where this did not hold up legally in court. I would also like to mention that the boyfriend came to court with us today and admitted that the baby wasn't his and he would sign whatever needed to be signed so that my son could establish parentage. Could you please tell me if we have any hope of winning this case if we get legal counsel? Any advise would be appreciated.


Asked on 6/02/10, 12:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Steele Steele Law Firm

I have dealt with this issue before and it is frustrating for all people involved (except the woman who couldn't figure out who she slept with when). I would need more facts, but if one could argue she committed fraud in inducing the other man to sign the VAP, that is your best approach. Also, your son can still fight to have visitation rights even if he cannot get custody. Ironically, it would give him visitation but not require child support. The real sad person in this whole thing is the sucker who signed the VAP who is now on the hook for support.

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Answered on 6/02/10, 5:30 pm


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