Statute of Limitations on Paternity

[gdaylester]

My question involves paternity law for the States of Texas and Pennsylvania.

My brother’s old one night stand showed up in Texas with her (then) 15 year old daughter and said that the child might be my brother’s. The old "girlfriend" was married to another man up in Pennsylvania and that man is on the birth certificate and paid child support until the child turned 18. Now at 19 years old, the child wants a paternity test to determine if my brother is her biological father.

While some in my family would like to know if the child is related to us, we do not want to subject my brother to ANY financial obligation. Considering that the child is now 19 years old, is there a legal/financial risk for to my brother (retroactively from the mother who now lives in Texas or the father who still lives in Pennsylvania) for a child that he had no knowledge of and has NO interest in if he is in fact biological father?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Did you misspeak - "and has NO interest in if he is in fact biological father?" - did you mean to say "NOT in fact..."? If he has no interest in even finding out, perhaps you should leave well enough alone.

In Pennsylvania, it appears that paternity actions must be commenced before a child turns 18. (23 Pa.C.S. 4343). In Texas, where a child has a presumed father (e.g., if the name of the mother's husband at the time of the child's birth is placed on the birth certificate), it appears that a paternity action is to be brought before the child's fourth birthday. (Texas Family Code, Sec. 160.607).