• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Charges of willful abandonment and child support

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

jessbell

Member
What is the name of your state? Washington

My husband is currently the biological father of a 15 month child. When we had a DNA test done the results were that it was his but he had a different name than the mother and my husband. She had put another guys name on the birth certificate, knowing that there was a pending DNA test. When my husband went to court to get the name changed they said that he had to have the "legal father" present in order to just get the parental rights. We have tried contacting the other guy with no luck. We have been paying child support this whole time. She is now saying that she has an attorney and that she is going for more child support and aslo charging him with willfull abandonment. My question is Can she go after more child support and can she legally go after him for willfull abandment after claiming that she put the other guy on knowing he wasn't the father? My husband is worried that if she does press charges on him that it will cost him his career in the military.
Thank you,
jessbell
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
jessbell said:
What is the name of your state? Washington

My husband is currently the biological father of a 15 month child. When we had a DNA test done the results were that it was his but he had a different name than the mother and my husband. She had put another guys name on the birth certificate, knowing that there was a pending DNA test. When my husband went to court to get the name changed they said that he had to have the "legal father" present in order to just get the parental rights. We have tried contacting the other guy with no luck. We have been paying child support this whole time. She is now saying that she has an attorney and that she is going for more child support and aslo charging him with willfull abandonment. My question is Can she go after more child support and can she legally go after him for willfull abandment after claiming that she put the other guy on knowing he wasn't the father? My husband is worried that if she does press charges on him that it will cost him his career in the military.
Thank you,
jessbell
If your husband is supporting the child then he is not willfully abandoning the child. The military gets very upset when its members don't support their children, but that's all.
 
jessbell said:
What is the name of your state? Washington

My husband is currently the biological father of a 15 month child. When we had a DNA test done the results were that it was his but he had a different name than the mother and my husband. She had put another guys name on the birth certificate, knowing that there was a pending DNA test. When my husband went to court to get the name changed they said that he had to have the "legal father" present in order to just get the parental rights. We have tried contacting the other guy with no luck. We have been paying child support this whole time. She is now saying that she has an attorney and that she is going for more child support and aslo charging him with willfull abandonment. My question is Can she go after more child support and can she legally go after him for willfull abandment after claiming that she put the other guy on knowing he wasn't the father? My husband is worried that if she does press charges on him that it will cost him his career in the military.
Thank you,
jessbell
You do realize that if he's military, he is entitled to free legal advice and representation (in most cases. ) He needs to go down to the legal office of the military base that he is stationed on. However, in reguards to child support, he DOES have to pay child support reguardless of the birth certificate name. He has already been proven the father, and in the eyes of the military that is ALL that matters (when it comes to financial support) However, he is NOT to be garnished for more than 33% of his income. Ya know what? I have all these forms in my desk so give me a few and I will post back with more.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
jessbell said:
The thing is he is not the legal father can she go after him for this or is she just bluffing?
Yes, he is the legal father. A court has declared him to be the legal father and has ordered him to pay child support. Just because the BC has not yet been changed doesn't mean that he isn't the legal father.
 

jessbell

Member
The navy legal office just told him that he'd have to go through the civilian courts and that they don't handle those cases. When we went to the courts they said that the legal father would have to give over his parental rights in order for us to do anything about the child.
 
jessbell said:
The thing is he is not the legal father can she go after him for this or is she just bluffing?
I said give me a minute, and yes he IS the legal father. Most courts only give a crap about the name on the birth cert. if the wrong father was married to the mother. And even then the biological father is still responsible for the child unless the father named on the cert. knowing this, and after establishing a "father-child bond" WANTS to still be the father - assuming the biological one doesn't. But thats neither here nor there. Your question is about your child support order (which would not be issued had he been determined to not be the BIO-F)
 

jessbell

Member
The other person didn't even know he wasn't the father until after the dna and after signing the birth certificate. we tried to get a parental affidavit but the courts would not accept it because the other guy would have to be there to sign off the parental rights. we showed the blood tests but they said that we still had to have the legal father sign off.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
jessbell said:
The other person didn't even know he wasn't the father until after the dna and after signing the birth certificate. we tried to get a parental affidavit but the courts would not accept it because the other guy would have to be there to sign off the parental rights. we showed the blood tests but they said that we still had to have the legal father sign off.
Ok...this is getting really confusing.

Is he paying child support voluntarily?...rather than via a court order?

Otherwise, I can't see how he could be paying child support unless the court has legally declared him to be the father. In which case, it should be a simple matter to change the birth certificate by showing the court order.
 

jessbell

Member
there is no court ordered child support agreement. I also believe she is also getting child support from the other person. She is currently on state aid. We have tried so many times to try to get this stuff straightened out but she won't answer the phone and only calls on payday. We try to see him but she won't let us unless she gets the money and it convenience her only.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
jessbell said:
there is no court ordered child support agreement. I also believe she is also getting child support from the other person. She is currently on state aid. We have tried so many times to try to get this stuff straightened out but she won't answer the phone and only calls on payday. We try to see him but she won't let us unless she gets the money and it convenience her only.
The he needs to file for paternity and have this done properly through the courts.
 
I read the part I needed and the CS is not to exceed 1/3 of the payee's income, though I doubt he pays that much anyway. In reguards to her increase in child support, I wouldn't worry. Younger children are determined to cost less than older ones and if he already has a court order then they have configured what he makes already. Does he make substancially more money all of a sudden? If thats the case, she may get more, but I know the military and thats probably not likely that his pay increased that much if at all. As for child abandonment, don't be fooled. She's blowing smoke outta her @ss for whatever reason, though you didn't clearly state why she said she would do that. If the navy won't guide him in the right direction, which does shock me I admitt, then he may just have to suck it up and hire an atty. to find the right forms to file for rights (visitation, all the nitty gritty.) How can she get him on abandonment if he never had CO visitation rights anyhow? Bottom line, obtain an atty. who's handles something like this and relax. As long as he's paying he's good to go.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top