Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Default Judgement
What is a default judgement? My husband was served with papers for dna testing a couple of years ago. He said when he showed up they told him the woman did't show. A couple of years has gone by and he got a letter in the mail from the attorney general saying he owes over $20 thousand dollars and his monthly child support to this woman is $500. Ok-well I emailed a message/question to the webiste they had listed on the paper and stated that there has never been a paternity testing to prove this child is his. I got a response saying that THEIR records indicate that HE never showed up for the testing when it was requested of him and therefore went into default judgement and the law now considers him the legal father. Is this true? And if so, how in the world can it be true without substantial evidence that he fathered this child? And where do we go from here to get this paternity testing done. Do we need to seek a lawyer to handle all of this now since it's gone into default?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Default Judgement
If a court has found him to be the father, then he is the father.
Paternity testing might be too late.
A default jugment means that he did not appear and the court went forward on the case without him since he had been served with papers. Apparently, he did not file an "Answer" with the court and the court is then allowed to proceed without further notice to him.
Apparently he did not show up for another hearing but the mother appeared and they court found your husband to be the father.
If you want someone to represent you regarding this default, that is your decision.
I personally would never appear in a court without an attorney. I'm an attorney and I hired an attorney to represent me in my last divorce because I was too emotionally involved to be effective.
Good luck!
Fran Brochsetin
713-847-6000
www.familylaw4u.com
Re: Default Judgement
He had to have a lawyer long ago. Now he may well be the legal father with legal obligations and consequences. Still, the Attorney General is a large office and they do sometimes make mistakes. For instance, perhaps they should have drafted the order not as a default, but as a judgment nil dicit, since you say he actually showed up to court on the first day and never returned, assuming he never denied the charge in writing filed with the clerk. Courts sometimes still call these default judgments. Had they drafted this in this manner (nil dicit), it would have been worse for your husband [Gilder v. McIntyre 29 Tex 89, 1867; McDonald's Texas Civil Practice 17.25]. Of course, not seeing the decree, I can not tell you how it was drafted. They may have made other errors. To find an error in granting a "default" judgment made by a court and the office of the attorney general, you will pretty much have to have the assistance of a lawyer. Most untrained laymen would have trouble finding legal mistakes by the judge in papers prepared by the attorney general. The papers are generally well prepared and when they are not judges often find and correct the errors before signing the papers. There are other procedures however and you may wish to go to the county law library and research "Default Judgments" in family law and civil law course books by the State Bar of Texas and in the legal journals of the law schools.
You might also want to fight the default, but in the alternative to modify the child support order with respect to future obligations.
http://www.reasonable-doubt.com
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
