Rights

[lmcde00]

My ex-girlfriend is pregnant with my child which is due in March.  She has decided to marry someone else and has left the state to get away from me and has asked her husband to be to put his name on the birth certificate.
How can I protect my rights and establish myself as my child's father?
Do I have to fight this in the state in which she now resides or do I file it in the state I am in?

[Giggles]

1.  Are you POSITIVE its yours?

2.  How can you be so positive it's yours?

3. Since she isn't yet a resident (usually takes 6 months to establish residency) then you might be able to file in your state (soc would know better on this one).

4.  Request a paternity test just to be 100% positive it's yours! You may be able to use the Child Support Enforcement office to do this?  Check with them...but you may need to hire an attorney to get this ball rolling.

5.  If the test comes out positive, you have an uphill battle (depending on the state) to try and get some sort of visitation due to her leaving the state.  You may be able to request a deviation on CS (child support) due to transportation costs.

Good Luck!!

[lmcde00]

My ex-girlfriend is pregnant with my child which is due in March.  She has decided to marry someone else and has left the state to get away from me and has asked her husband to be to put his name on the birth certificate.
How can I protect my rights and establish myself as my child's father?
Do I have to fight this in the state in which she now resides or do I file it in the state I am in?

[Giggles]

1.  Are you POSITIVE its yours?

2.  How can you be so positive it's yours?

3. Since she isn't yet a resident (usually takes 6 months to establish residency) then you might be able to file in your state (soc would know better on this one).

4.  Request a paternity test just to be 100% positive it's yours! You may be able to use the Child Support Enforcement office to do this?  Check with them...but you may need to hire an attorney to get this ball rolling.

5.  If the test comes out positive, you have an uphill battle (depending on the state) to try and get some sort of visitation due to her leaving the state.  You may be able to request a deviation on CS (child support) due to transportation costs.

Good Luck!!

[socrateaser]

>My ex-girlfriend is pregnant with my child which is due in
>March.  She has decided to marry someone else and has left the
>state to get away from me and has asked her husband to be to
>put his name on the birth certificate.
>How can I protect my rights and establish myself as my child's
>father?

1. You must file a petition to establish paternity and for support and custody/visitation, after the child is born.

However, don't be a fool and just blindly accept that the child is yours. Women FREQUENTLY trick men on this issue. And, I'm not making a moral judgment here, this is a fact. As far back as the 1930s, studies done by blood banks demonstrated that 17% of all births in the U.S. were the product of extra-marital affairs. So, if this behavior was that prevelant during a period where divorce and cheating were supposedly rare, then you can bet that it's a lot more prevelant today. Get a DNA test.

Having said all this, if the new husband is willing to adopt the child, frankly, it would be in your financial future best interest to allow it. Otherwise, you will pay out a huge portion of your income. But, that's your call.

>Do I have to fight this in the state in which she now resides
>or do I file it in the state I am in?

If the child was conceived in your State, then you can file where you live, but more than likely the court will dismiss your action on grounds of forum inconvenience. All the evidence of the case, including the child's primary residence will be in the other jurisdiction, so you would be better off filing therein.

[socrateaser]

>3. Since she isn't yet a resident (usually takes 6 months to
>establish residency) then you might be able to file in your
>state (soc would know better on this one).

She can file where she lives now. The child isn't born yet.