[tiki1978]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: Florida

I will try to keep it short but its a mess. Fake names makes it easy to follow

-Adam has baby with Pat in 2000; He signed the AOP (I think) but name is on the BC. They were never married; daughter born in California
-3 years later they moved back to home state
-we have been caring for daughter with no financial support or anything from pat for last 3.5 years. we moved to Florida 2.5 years ago for work. Pat agreed to let daughter move since we could care for daughter. pat was in school and had no job and living with family. daughter's on his taxes for the last 4 years, his medical insurance and we have all school records proving we have raised her.
-we have since gone back home every 6-8 months; pat spends at least a week with daughter that we paid for; pat has limited involvement with daughter due to her actions; pat rarely calls and makes no attempt to visit. we make daughter call her when there has been a long period of time between calls
-recently pat calls she's taking daughter back. adam filed petition saying we keep primary residence and pat can have visitation
-she responds he may not be the bio since no scientific test was done 9 yrs ago
-adam doesn't want to take the test in fear he may not be the bio
-i have raised daughter as if I gave birth myself and we don't want to do anything that could result in the court taking her away from us

does he have to take it since its been 9 years and he's listed on BC?
does he have any legal rights if he doesn't take the dna test?
can pat come here and take daughter away?
what can be done?
PLS HELP!

[aardvarc]

does he have to take it since its been 9 years and he's listed on BC?

If a judge says so, yep.

does he have any legal rights if he doesn't take the dna test?

He has every legal right to the child already. He is legally the father, right now this minute, until or unless a court changes that, he can show up and get the child today.

can pat come here and take daughter away?

EITHER parent could do that, yes.

what can be done?

Regardless of how long or well you've cared for this child, it isn't YOUR child until a COURT says so. You can open a case for change of guardianship in your local county probate court. Check the court website for the county where you live - they often have decent explanations of the process and some even provide necessary forms and paperwork.

[cyjeff]

Refusing to take the DNA test is seen by the court as an admission of paternity.

[aaron]

In this context, "Adam" would be happy with that. It's mom threatening to try to disestablish paternity in order to take custody against "Adam's" wishes. I think "Adam" and his new spouse have custody; that's not entirely clear from the original post.

[tiki1978]

We don't have court ordered custody. She was fine with occasional weekend visits when we all lived in the same state.

When we moved to FL 2.5 years ago; Pat was fine with it. She called with this mess after we told her she had to pay for the visit she wanted a couple of months ago. 2 weeks later she called with "I'm taking her back".

She answered our original petition with a motion for scientific test a month ago. What's supposed to happen now? Will the court set up a court date? Should we have filed a counter petition? We were just told its a waiting game by our lawyer? We found cases where the judge ruled against the testing since it was in the best interest of the child. Would these cases set some sort of precedence?

[Xena]

We don't have court ordered custody. She was fine with occasional weekend visits when we all lived in the same state.

When we moved to FL 2.5 years ago; Pat was fine with it. She called with this mess after we told her she had to pay for the visit she wanted a couple of months ago. 2 weeks later she called with "I'm taking her back".

She answered our original petition with a motion for scientific test a month ago. What's supposed to happen now? Will the court set up a court date? Should we have filed a counter petition? We were just told its a waiting game by our lawyer? We found cases where the judge ruled against the testing since it was in the best interest of the child. Would these cases set some sort of precedence?

You really need an attorney. If you absolutely cannot afford one, you should still get a consult right away.
You can get a low cost consult by calling the Florida Bar Lawyer Referall Servcie at 1-800-342-8011. Take copies of all filed court papers with you, and a list of the questions you have.

[tiki1978]

We have an attorney but our money is going to run out. I'm looking to see if other people have ever ran into this or know of any similar situations. I know every case is different but I'm gathering all the info I can.

[Xena]

We have an attorney but our money is going to run out. I'm looking to see if other people have ever ran into this or know of any similar situations. I know every case is different but I'm gathering all the info I can.

You can read the laws at www.flsenate.gov/STATUTES

The Rules of Civil Procedure at http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/frcp

The Family Law Rules at http://phonl.com/fl_law/rules/famlawrules