[obytheway]

Married for 15 years divorced 14 months ago. All of a sudden father quits paying child support about ayear ago. Now he claims he is not the biological father. He is now delinguent and license is suspended. Child is now 81/2 years old alittle over 7 at time of divorce. He never has questioned anything before. What is Florida law concerning this matter ?

[Xena]

Married for 15 years divorced 14 months ago. All of a sudden father quits paying child support about ayear ago. Now he claims he is not the biological father. He is now delinguent and license is suspended. Child is now 81/2 years old alittle over 7 at time of divorce. He never has questioned anything before. What is Florida law concerning this matter ?

Florida's laws are slowly changing. It is now possible for a man to deny paternity and request a DNA test even if the child was born during the marriage. HOWEVER, the time for him to have done so would have been during the divorce. It's extremely doubtful that a court would even consider ordering a DNA at this point.

[obytheway]

Thanks Xena ! There is a slight chance it may not be his because we were separated for a short time. But she looks exactly like my EX. What is this new Florida law they are talking about concerning DNA tests? He already quit seeing her about 6 months ago when he started saying he was not the biological father ! Any further information would be greatly appreciated. THANKS

[aaron]

Typically a failure to raise the issue of nonpaternity during divorce proceedings results in a final judgment declaring the husband to be the father of the children born during the marriage, with courts applying res judicata to prevent the issue from being subsequently relitigated.

Florida appears to offer a limited opportunity for the father to claim fraud, up to one year after entry of the divorce judgment:

We hold that a wife's false misrepresentation concerning her husband's paternity during a dissolution of marriage proceeding constitutes intrinsic fraud which must be attacked by a rule 1.540(b) motion filed within one year of the final judgment dissolving the marriage. Accordingly, we agree with the Fourth District that the petitioner's attempt to vacate the final judgment dissolving his marriage is time-barred.

[obytheway]

Aaron Thanks for your contribution it is greatly appreciated !