Arizona-Maricopa County
I will do my best to keep it short but also provide important details. I have a child born out of an affair. Her mother was and is still married while I'm in a relationship with someone else now. She didn't know who the father was so she put the husband as the father. She contacted me about 6 months late to see if I would take a DNA test. I refused but after weeks of constant begging, I caved and she ordered an online test. 99% of being the childs dad. Well her marriage suddenly is on the rocks and she supposedly takes him off the birth certificate and adds me. Keep in mind, I've never signed or saw one piece of ligation. She started demanding back support and child support payments, threatening to take me to court. Eventually we agreed to $250 a month to keep it out of court, which she eventually "renegotiated" to $300. Well once I got a stable job and such, I talked to a lawyer about joint custody. The lawyer stated I had no rights to the child as the mother was legally married to someone else so he is in fact the father legally. I had 30 days to dispute the birth certificate when the child was born which I obviously didn't because I didn't know she was mine. The lawyer stated I also had no legal obligation to pay child support.
I guess I'm just trying to confirm what the lawyer stated and see what my next move is. I don't know the child at all as I've seen her maybe a dozen times. Can she come after me for child support if I stop paying, does she have a case? Or have I been taken advantage of for the past 6 months?
I will do my best to keep it short but also provide important details. I have a child born out of an affair. Her mother was and is still married while I'm in a relationship with someone else now. She didn't know who the father was so she put the husband as the father. She contacted me about 6 months late to see if I would take a DNA test. I refused but after weeks of constant begging, I caved and she ordered an online test. 99% of being the childs dad. Well her marriage suddenly is on the rocks and she supposedly takes him off the birth certificate and adds me. Keep in mind, I've never signed or saw one piece of ligation. She started demanding back support and child support payments, threatening to take me to court. Eventually we agreed to $250 a month to keep it out of court, which she eventually "renegotiated" to $300. Well once I got a stable job and such, I talked to a lawyer about joint custody. The lawyer stated I had no rights to the child as the mother was legally married to someone else so he is in fact the father legally. I had 30 days to dispute the birth certificate when the child was born which I obviously didn't because I didn't know she was mine. The lawyer stated I also had no legal obligation to pay child support.
I guess I'm just trying to confirm what the lawyer stated and see what my next move is. I don't know the child at all as I've seen her maybe a dozen times. Can she come after me for child support if I stop paying, does she have a case? Or have I been taken advantage of for the past 6 months?
