Establishing Paternity and Support of a Teenager Born American Abroad

[Hazelle Brooks]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: NewYork and Maryland, United Kingdom

I am the parent of a teenage son who doesn't receive regular child support nor has established paternity. We were never married. My situation is someone complicated. While I was in the military, I had my son in the U.K. At the time, the father wasn't with me and I was advised at the time that according to the U.K. law, the father could not appear on the birth certificate because he wasn't there to sign. Consequently, this was reflected on their American Born Abroad birth certificate.
Because of my living overseas, I was advised by my military lawyer that it would be best for me to wait until I returned permanently to the U.S. to establish paternity and pursue child support. However, by this time my children were in pre-school. I wasn't clear if I could establish paternity and pursue at that time because I didn't live in my home of record New York. Since then, I've relocated between TX and NY several times. I am now residing in NY permanently and my sons father resides in Maryland. I've attempted to file with two counties (I live in the border area of another county whose seat is closer than that of my own residential county). In one case, the judge stated that his county could not locate my sons father. I don't think the county tried. The other county claimed the same thing.
I was at a loss to locate him until I did some indepth searching myself. I've found an address, work place and several telephone contacts; all current. Come to discover he actually works for the state of Maryland. I understand that because this is a UIFSA case that it may take lower precedence than cases in which the custodial parent is on some form of state assistance.

I need to know the best way I can proceed from here to get the child support my child deserves via the interstate process.

Thanks!

My child is under the age of 18 yrs old.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If you are indicating that you again will be seeking help from an administrative agency to establish support, go to the agency for your state, enlist their help, and give them the putative father's address.

If you are indicating that you intend to file a private paternity action, do so and have the father served by a process server consistent with the laws of the state in which you file and the state in which service is effected.