Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN;
I have a serious problem with child support, a time back I lived off & on with this woman from mexico we had not seen each for a long time & when we did she said she was pregnant, told me not to worry it was her x-husband's baby, when i returned from iraq, started to work my pay started to be garnished,over forty percent was missing,i didn't know why or who it was, till i found out it was child support, i tried to stop it but i need an attorney and attorneys cost alot of money which i do not have, i do not know or do i want to know if is mine i do not want a dna test, i want to be emancipated from this child, it's not the child, when i was with the mother, she & her x-husband have serious mental problems, too much abuse, i can not take that, i just want them out of my life, please tell me what i have to do & how to do it, please in desperate need of help.

Asked on 8/17/09, 12:49 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Keith Engelke Law Office of S. Keith Engelke

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It sounds like she got a support order against you without your knowledge.

If you do not hire an attorney to contest the order and your paternity, you will continue to have to pay child support until the child is 18 or until the mom marries and stepdad adopts the child. It does not sound to me like mom will get married any time soon, let alone to someone who will adopt the child. Most lawyers are cheaper than 18 years of child support

If the child is yours, you have a legal responsibility to pay child support. If the child is not yours, you do not. Until she realizes she can't get anything from you, mom will be in your life.

You need to get a copy of the support order and take it to an attorney.

The attorney can look into various ways of attacking the order. One way might be that the order was obtained while you where in Iraq doing military service. If so you are subject to the protections of the servicemembers civil relief act. If this doesn't apply, mom may have served you by publication. It may be possible to attack court orders obtained in this manner.

If the judgment is overturned, the support order should be withdrawn. I am not sure whether the case will be dismissed and mom will have to refile or whether this case will continue.. In any event, she will have to ask for some kind of relief to reinstate the order.

You need to be ready to contest paternity. Get the kids birth certificate or hospital records and find out the blood type. Certain combinations of blood types can rule out paternity.

You are going to need to show that you are not the father. Be ready to pay for a DNA test. Shop around for the best deal on a lab.

Understand that the more time you take in attacking the support judgment, the less credible you will appear. Also it you wait long enough, you may be barred from attacking the support order.

Answered on 8/17/09, 1:30 am

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