dna

[donna26041]

my husband fathered a child 25 yrs. ago. he never acknowlelged this child til now, he was just told by the mother that it was his.. she never bothered him all these yrs, and the daughter has recently taken it upon herself to get in touch with him. they met, now she wants dna, she bought a home dna test kit... we live in west virginia... is my husband legally obligated to take this test? can she or the mother come back on him for child support after all these yrs., and for how long can they come back on him? what will happen if he refuses, as we feel she is going to use this against him somewhere down the road... can she get her birth cerificate changed to his name without his consent? at her age, can she court order dna testing? the girl who says she is his daughter resides in ohio....... we do know that the mother was collecting benefits from welfare at the time, but not sure in which state???? this is tearing my family apart, i need advice fast.
thank you so much

 

[Grace_Adler]

First, he doesn't have to take it unless the courts ordered it. So she wouldn't be able to change the birth certificate. The only way it can be changed is if he signs an affadavit of parentage or the court orders the DNA test and it comes back that he is the father. The mother would have to get the court to order it..not her. She could sue for back CS I think but there may be a statute of limitations on that. If she recieved AFDC he would be obligated to pay that back as well if back support court order were established. You can refuse to take the test if you want to. ( I know you didn't ask for my personal opinion but I think it would be nice for everyone to know the truth as well as doing something about a relationship now. It's not her fault and I think it's sad that she had to grow up without knowing her father and having a relationship with him and him not knowing her. He did help to create this person..assuming he is the father.) I understand how upsetting this can be and I'm sorry this has been sprung on you all of a sudden after all these years. But you can also look up more on a couple of web sites.
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/index.html
http://polisci.com/web/slegis.htm