Father Not Allowed to Claim Paternity Because Mother Still Legally Married to Another

[MaggieCRose]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: Texas

My daughter just had a baby. She is still legally married to her husband but has been separated from him (informally) for 3 years. Neither she nor her legal husband can afford to get divorced but both consider themselves divorced. Her boyfriend is the father of the child and wants his name on the birth certificate. The hospital wouldn't let them even though my daughter explained. The hospital advised her to write/talk to someone about it and they keep trying to get her to sign papers to go after her (ex) husband for child support instead of getting the real father's name on the certificate. What can they do?

[Dogmatique]

Her husband is the child's legal father.

They are NOT divorced, and they really need to go ahead and file to disestablish her husband's paternity at this point. Or, the three of them - her, husband and boyfriend - can stipulate that the husband is not the father, and via a DNA paternity test the boyfriend can be added to the birth certificate.

This hospital can't force her to do anything about child support. In fact, nobody can unless she's on welfare.

(If she does go to court, she needs to absolutely not say that she couldn't afford to get divorced - because the first thing out of the judge's mouth is going to be, "then you have no business having a child - how are you going to afford the child?")

[MaggieCRose]

Wow, that is helpful although I'm not sure what my daughter can do. Her "ex" lives in the DC area and she is in Austin, TX. She (and I too when I was young) has made many mistakes and getting pregnant was one of her biggest ones. But she was "in love" and her boyfriend wanted to be a father and so without using their brains they brought this child into the world. They are as poor as a churchmouse, all of them, and I am in no position to help them. I will relay the information to her. Thanks.

[Dogmatique]

She can file for divorce pretty easily - it doesn't seem as it will be contested, correct?

That way they can disestablish paternity as part of the divorce action. She should speak to an attorney, and an initial consultation shouldn't be too expensive.

I think she's going to need one to untangle this, y'know?