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Minor child support/Birth certificate

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soldierpaul

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Kansas

My son is 17. At the age of 16, he got a teenage girl pregnant. She was 14 at the time. She gave birth to a baby girl today. She is 15 now. Does anybody know the legal aspects of child support from his point of view. He was called today, as was I, by the girl's mother and told that by Kansas Law, he had to go the hospital in Kansas City and sign the birth certificate before they will release child and mother. I have never heard of anything like that. Thank you.
 


fairisfair

Senior Member
No he does NOT have to sign the birth certificate, in fact he SHOULD NOT SIGN anything.

You need to have paternity established legally. He needs to petition the court for DNA testing. I mean no offense, but who says this is his child, other than the mother???
 

soldierpaul

Junior Member
Agreed

His mother called me and got really rude. Told me its KS law that the hospital wouldn't release her until the birth certificate is signed. I was thinking about how many children don't have a fathers name on the birth certificate and it donned on me that there are quite a few. I am in the military and I will take my son to the JAG office tomorrow. I see her mother seeing money right now. We had a family talk in March and were told by mother and child that they would not be seeking money from him. Now comes part 2 from the question. He doesn't want to deny being the father. He is willing to pay any kind of child support. He has a job that pays $7.64 an hour and works only 16 hours a week. He is still in school. How much would they make him pay and/or will they try to get the money from me?
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
he will have to pay the support, obviously at his age the support award will probably be minimal and will grow as his ability to earn increases. He may have to work more in order to not fall into arrears, or you may decide to help him. Of course, this is all based on the premise that this IS his child. a fact not yet established. Establishing paternity is NOT denying being the father. It is being sure of being the father.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
soldierpaul said:
His mother called me and got really rude. Told me its KS law that the hospital wouldn't release her until the birth certificate is signed. I was thinking about how many children don't have a fathers name on the birth certificate and it donned on me that there are quite a few. I am in the military and I will take my son to the JAG office tomorrow. I see her mother seeing money right now. We had a family talk in March and were told by mother and child that they would not be seeking money from him. Now comes part 2 from the question. He doesn't want to deny being the father. He is willing to pay any kind of child support. He has a job that pays $7.64 an hour and works only 16 hours a week. He is still in school. How much would they make him pay and/or will they try to get the money from me?
I would be more worried at this point about statutory rape charges....or other possible issues. The mom was only 14 when she got pregnant. Although your son was only 16 each state is very individual on that issue.

Its absolutely NOT true that the hospital won't release the child and mother unless the "alledged" father signs an Affidavit of Paternity. However its possible that CPS has gotten involved due to the mom's young age, and they are pressuring mom and grandma to establish who the father is.

Or...it could be financially motivated.

Or the delivery could be being paid by medicaid and the welfare department is putting the pressure on.

Or the hospital could be putting pressure on them for one reason or another. But in the end, its NOT true that they can't release the child and mom without a father signing the AOP.

Its good that you are taking your son to JAG...however don't be surprized if JAG tells you that you have to hire a civilian attorney. However absolutely do not make any decision without solid advice from an attorney.

If child suport ends up being the only legal issue, then its possible that your son could be imputed a full time minimum wage income for the purpose of calculating child support. In a handful of states (and I don't know if KS is one of them or not) grandparents can be held responsible for child support in these types of cases. (both parents minors) Therefore, its possible that you could get stuck being responsible for some child support....either because your son has to pay more than he can reasonably earn...or because you will be held responsible. Its also possible that your son will only have to pay child support based on what he can realistically earn on a part time basis.

In any case, don't do anything without the proper advice of local legal counsel. Grandma is either lying through her teeth...or is being lied to herself.
 

soldierpaul

Junior Member
Thanks

I spoke with the lawyer at JAG. He pretty much told me the same thing you guys did. My son shouldn't sign anything unless he is 100% sure that he is the father. The mother and child were miraculously released from the hospital even though my son didn't show up to sign. As no Paternity test has yet been requested, I guess we will wait for the state to request one. Thanks for your advice.

Respectfully
 
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Ohiogal

Queen Bee
soldierpaul said:
I spoke with the lawyer at JAG. He pretty much told me the same thing you guys did. My son shouldn't sign anything unless he is 100% sure that he is the father. The mother and child were miraculously released from the hospital even though my son didn't show up to sign. As no Paternity test has yet been requested, I guess we will wait for the state to request one. Thanks for your advice.

Respectfully
Remove your name please from the post.
 
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Ohiogal

Queen Bee
CJane said:
Ummmm Darlin... remove it from your quote. ;)
Did so. WHOOPS!:eek: Oversight on my part -- didn't want Ops name around so that he would get prank calls or other problems.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
soldierpaul said:
As no Paternity test has yet been requested, I guess we will wait for the state to request one. Thanks for your advice.

Respectfully
Or your son could be responsible (apparently he doesn't deny that he could be the father) and request one himself.
 

soldierpaul

Junior Member
Paternity

stealth2 said:
Or your son could be responsible (apparently he doesn't deny that he could be the father) and request one himself.
It has little to do with responsibility. The lawyer told me that:

1) He could sign the birth certificate if he was 100% sure that he is the father. They broke up 3-4 weeks prior to his finding out that she was pregnant.
or
2) He could request a DNA test which would be more expensive for him/us than to wait for a test to be requested.

The main reason I posted was the whole "He needs to drive up here and sign the birth certificate or the hospital will not release mother and child, or I will take you to court and force him to sign the birth certificate!" question of legality. I just couldn't believe that the hospital won't release her until he signs the birth certificate.
 

MrsK

Senior Member
soldierpaul said:
It has little to do with responsibility. The lawyer told me that:

1) He could sign the birth certificate if he was 100% sure that he is the father. They broke up 3-4 weeks prior to his finding out that she was pregnant.
or
2) He could request a DNA test which would be more expensive for him/us than to wait for a test to be requested.

The main reason I posted was the whole "He needs to drive up here and sign the birth certificate or the hospital will not release mother and child, or I will take you to court and force him to sign the birth certificate!" question of legality. I just couldn't believe that the hospital won't release her until he signs the birth certificate.
When she found out she was pregnant- how many weeks pregnant was she?
 

soldierpaul

Junior Member
MrsK said:
When she found out she was pregnant- how many weeks pregnant was she?
Not sure...they broke up in January...she told him about it in March...he is pretty sure that he is the father. He then took her to the youth clinic and to her appointments. The whole question was about the legality of forcing him to sign the birth certificate because the hospital supposedly would not release mother and child until the father signed the birth certificate
 

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