Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: father after 14 years?

First, it is my understandingt that the mother can file a paternity petition during the child's minority and I am not sure you were given good information about that. Similarly, I believe your husband could file a petition to determine parentage at this time if he cared to do so.

If she does file such a petition, make sure your lawyer is familiar with TN Statute 32-2-311 which discusses the issue of retroactive child support in cases such as this. The statute provides in part:

"(11)(A) Determination of child support pursuant to chapter 5 of this title. When making retroactive support awards pursuant to the child support guidelines established pursuant to this subsection (a), the court shall consider the following factors as a basis for deviation from the presumption in the child support guidelines that child and medical support for the benefit of the child shall be awarded retroactively to the date of the child's birth:

(i) The extent to which the father did not know, and could not have known, of the existence of the child, the birth of the child, his possible parentage of the child or the location of the child;

(ii) The extent to which the mother intentionally, and without good cause, failed or refused to notify the father of the existence of the child, the birth of the child, the father's possible parentage of the child or the location of the child; and

(iii) The attempts, if any, by the child's mother or caretaker to notify the father of the mother's pregnancy, or the existence of the child, the father's possible parentage or the location of the child."

I only bring that up, because, retroactive child support after 14 years can be an enourmous figure and there are ways to reduce that obligation.

Also, it is my understanding that if he is taken to court on paternity, he needs to request at the first opportunity, for a paternity test or he may waive that right.

Finally, I will point out that if the child truly has a "legal father" who has adopted the child, then I really doubt anything will come of this.

My suggestion is to locate a local attorney and discuss this issue. He and his lawyer may need to do some research to see if the child has been legally adopted. Even if there has been a legal adoption, there may be some retroactive child support issues. Please consider contacting an attorney in your area familiar with paternity and adoption cases.