Unfair Child Support Collected Before Paternity Established

[NeedHelp777]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: Florida
So heres the deal in 97 my exgirlfriend got pregnant and she told me the baby was mine-so I believed her and she had the baby and of course I put my name on the birth certificate-after she had the baby about a month later she said the kid wasn't mine-after our break up several of my friends said they also had slept with her ( ok so now I feel like a dummy) but anyway so since she said it wasn't mine-I went on with my life-anyway so I haven't heard from her in 10 years until a couple of months ago when I got a letter in the mail that said she was wanting me to sign over my parental rights to her now husband-ok so I am fine with that I sign and get it notarized and send it back to her-well the next thing I know I am getting a judgment from the court saying that I now am 30 thousand dollars behind in child support and a order has been established to garnish my pay-so I am like wait a minute I didn't even know there was a hearing about this because I was never sent a summons-so here I am thinking he is being adopted and well you know the rest of the story-so my question is how do I go about requesting a establishment of paternity? because if I had of thought for one second this child was mine I would have been in his life-it is not about the child support I honestly do not believe he is my child-any suggestions from anyone-or if you know of something I can do please help

[CourtClerk]

of course I put my name on the birth certificate

Back in 97, that was probably good enough to establish paternity... therefore, you established paternity right there.

after she had the baby about a month later she said the kid wasn't mine

And since you've done nothing in 11 years legally, the 30K stands.

[NeedHelp777]

Hey wait a minute I was very young then only 17 and since she hasn't contacted me in all these years up until now -and no she hasn't been trying to find me because I have lived no more than a hour away from her all this time and she had told several other people the child was not mine-if it is I will be glad to take responsibility- and want make a fuss about the back child support and I will want a relationship with this child-but I really do not believe he is mine.

[CourtClerk]

Your age is of no consequence, since there is no family code statute anywhere in the US that I know of that says that if you are 17, you are allowed to be stupid.

You'll have a hard time trying to undo anything 11 years after you suspected that the child wasn't yours. Call CSE and see if they can be of some assistance to you.

[NeedHelp777]

I realize my age then is not relevant to you, but you don't know me or my past and I back then I had been on my own since right before I turned 16-all I want is a paternity test-plain and simple and I just need to know how to request one through the court system, especially since I can't afford to hire a lawyer

[CourtClerk]

No, actually your age is irrelevant to the law...

However, call CSE and ask them if you can pay for a paternity test. Whether it will hold any weight... i doubt it, but if you're willing to pay for it, maybe they'll entertain you. The ball is in their court.

[Xena]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: Florida
So heres the deal in 97 my exgirlfriend got pregnant and she told me the baby was mine-so I believed her and she had the baby and of course I put my name on the birth certificate-after she had the baby about a month later she said the kid wasn't mine-after our break up several of my friends said they also had slept with her ( ok so now I feel like a dummy) but anyway so since she said it wasn't mine-I went on with my life-anyway so I haven't heard from her in 10 years until a couple of months ago when I got a letter in the mail that said she was wanting me to sign over my parental rights to her now husband-ok so I am fine with that I sign and get it notarized and send it back to her-well the next thing I know I am getting a judgment from the court saying that I now am 30 thousand dollars behind in child support and a order has been established to garnish my pay-so I am like wait a minute I didn't even know there was a hearing about this because I was never sent a summons-so here I am thinking he is being adopted and well you know the rest of the story-so my question is how do I go about requesting a establishment of paternity? because if I had of thought for one second this child was mine I would have been in his life-it is not about the child support I honestly do not believe he is my child-any suggestions from anyone-or if you know of something I can do please help

You NEED to see a local attorney ASAP. No matter what your age was, you still had the legal right to be properly served and an opportunity to be heard in court before any CS order could be issued.
If you can prove that you were not served, or if CSE cannot prove that you were legally served, you have a good chance of fighting this based on lack of service. However, it will take an attorney to get this done properly.

[DrPatrick]

Xena is right. Get some solid legal advice now, go look up the names of some lawyers in your area. Get informed about your options and what you can expect to happen next. It should go without saying that a DNA test is in your future too, so learn about them. But the most important thing for the child is that you decide now what you want your course of action to be if you are the father - I'm sure they don't like this ambiguity any more than you do.