Many men in Texas are paying child support for a child who is not theirs. How could this happen? Unfortunately, it’s too easy.
Paternity fraud has been a problem for some time. It happens in cases where the Attorney General’s office seeks to establish paternity and child support for children born out of wedlock. It happens when there could be more than one potential father and a likely suspect is brought into court and because he may be the father, does not ask for DNA testing, and either agrees to or does not contest the issue . He is then ordered to pay support until the child turns eighteen. If a new law pending in Austin passes, relief from this burden will be available. An order for child support will end if there is a finding of no paternity.
A “father” in this case could ask the court to terminate his parental rights and end the child support if he can show that there was no DNA testing at the time his paternity was established or he was tricked into admitting paternity. The new law would provide for testing and if he is excluded by the testing, the court can terminate his parental rights and end the child support obligation.
Questions? Contact Craig Fowler for Paternity advice at Hammerle Finley Law Firm.
