Terminating Child Support For A Child That Isn’t Yours

Question:

My ex wife had a child with another man during the course of our marriage. When we divorced, she filed for child support since I raised him, but she took away custody. Since I haven’t seen him in more than four years, is there a way to terminate the child support payments?

Answer:

While I am not licensed to practice law in your state and cannot give you legal advice, I can give some general observations on this issue based on the jurisdiction where I practice.

This is a very unfortunate situation that many fathers do face. In Virginia and Alabama where I am licensed to practice, a child born of the marriage is deemed to be the husband’s child whether it is his biologically or not.

In some states, you may be able to contest this in court with a simple DNA test to determine paternity, but generally if you chose to raise that child as your own and the child was born of the marriage, most courts are going to keep things as they are for the child’s sake.

Your ex-wife may be able to request that child support enforcement close their case as to the one child, but that in itself would not affect the validity of any existing court orders.  To find out how the laws in your state pertain to your situation you would need to consult with an attorney in your state.

To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including Virginia divorce lawyer Jonah Dickey, contact Cordell & Cordell.