Legal Question in Family Law in New York
Paternity
My girlfriend who is divorced and has 2 children reside in the state of New York. We plan on getting married very soon. There is a very good chance that one of the children is mine from a relationship we had 8 yrs ago. We both came upon this recently and feel it might be true. If it is true based upon all the legally testing (dna, Paternity) I will accept full responsibility for this child.
My question is by aceepting full responsibility for the child and since we will be getting married, Does the divorced husband have any rights to this child after all tests have been proven he is not the biological father..
Thank you for your help..
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Paternity
Your question regarding your girlfriend's
ex-husband's rights does not have a definitive "yes" or "no" answer; the issues are not "open and shut", not "cut and dried".
Generally: The word "parent" in regard to who may ask for child custody or vistiation rights is not defined in New York's statutes law codes.
However: In past lawsuits regarding child custody and visitation rights, courts have decided in favor of the winning party based on the fact that the winning party was a biological parent of the child while the losing party was not.
Nonetheless, although biological parenthood can be an advantage in child custody and visitation disputes, it is not necessarily the decisive advantage. In some instances, courts have considered other factors aside from biological parenthood, and a non-biological parent or other party has prevailed while the biological parent has lost, in child custody or visitation disputes.
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