[txkee69]

My friend is from Texas. He was dating a women who was supposedly divorced. Turns out her husband was just working out of the country. The woman got pregnant and had a son, she acknowledged that my friend was the father at the time, and he actually took care of the son. Now she is re-married and will not allow any type of visitation, nor will she agree to DNA testing. Is there anything he can do to force DNA testing as they were never married and her ex-husbands name is on the birth certificate?
The child was born in 2001.

[aardvarc]

He can file a paternity suit, getting a court to mandate a test. She can either comply with the test (in which case child support and visitation will follow if he's the dad) or she can fail to comply and face charges for contempt of court. Either way, he needs to get before a judge to get the ball rolling.

[txkee69]

Does he have to file in the county she lives in? Or can he do it where he lives. They both live in Texas.

Thanks for the information!

[lwpat]

He needs to file in the county where she lives. He should check the statute of limitations first.

[beaktl]

My situation is a little different but I'm still in Texas. I think my ex may have hid the fact that she was pregnant when we separated. She would have delivered by the time the divorce was final about nine years ago.

My question is even if I could establish paternity what could the potential fallout be? Could I all the sudden be on the hook for child support? Or even nine years of back child support?

Basically I'm trying to decide if the issue is worth pushing or if it is best to leave it alone. Of course I still need to investigate the shrink side. I wouldn't want to do anything to screw the kid up anymore than my ex probably has.

[beaktl]

BTW - She did sign the divorce decree which did have the statement: there are no children from the marriage or expected.