Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
I mess with a guy 14 years ago. I had a daughter 13 yrs ago. At the time I got pregnant me and said guy thought the baby was ours, well at least he was saying it at first when I told him I was pregnant. As I got bigger he was always saying that the baby better be his, and i was so sure, mind you I was 16, so I was young ans naive. When i had her, I just saw him in her. He saw her and denied her, I filed child support on him, but he didn't show for court, so he got named daddy by default. Years go on and it is past the 4 years, but I bump into an ex that my daughter is like identical too, and he knew she was his, so I tried to call the attorney general and tell them I made a mistake, they told me that I was too late, and the only way to undo it would be with a lawyer. I couldn't afford one, so things stayed the way they were. The default daddy gave me hell everyday, but it was his fault for not showing, because if he'd showed a test could have been done and he could be gone, but that never happened until now. The guy whoI know is the father he has another child, and his other baby mama told me tat he gave the child support people my daughters nameand DOB, so he is waiting on me to file on him I guess. I tried to get him to sign an AOP, and he disappeared on me, won't answer calls/texts, nothing. But he did acknowledge my daughter to the attorney general, so it is noted that he claims her, but doesn't want the financial responsibility of her. Default daddy and I did a legal DNA test that excluded him, so is there a way we can present it, and have him removed from Supporting my child and let me go after her real dad? We know it's late, but we didn't have the money to fix this, plus default daddy has five kids of his own, so trying to fix this was never in his budget, he works in Afganistan to make enough to support the kids, and finally paid for the DNA test that proved 13 yrs later he is not the father.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The governor just signed a new law that is effective immediately. If the acknowledged dad takes a DNA test, he will be able to terminate his obligation to pay child support. It's a hateful law, but it is now the law in Texas--no longer matters how old the child is.
Therefore, you are going to need to establish the paternity of the real biological father to make sure you are not left high and dry if the acknowledged (default) father decides to take this action.The new law is a mess but I think he would have to file by September 12, 2013. To lock him in, I think you would need to send him a certified letter letting him know that he may not be the daddy. The reason for that would be so that you can lock in a particular date on which he had to have known that this issue exists. Othewise, he might be able to slip away well after September 12, 2013 and have his entire child support arrearage forgiven!
Talk to a Houston attorney before you do anything--maybe go to a Legal Aid clinic and get some advice.
Good luck!!!
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.
