Getting Duped Into Believing You Are the Father of a Child is Fair Play in the Empire State

Why You MUST Get a DNA Test if You Might Be the Father

Listen to Scott's radio show, "Cannon's Law- Opening Fire" on WYSL 1040AM and FM TALK 92.1, Saturday mornings 8:00-9:00, and Sunday evenings from 6:00-7:00.

Get That DNA Test, No Exceptions

Imagine this: a man, Tom, has been dating a woman, Mary, for several weeks. One day Mary announces to Tom that she is pregnant and that “they” are going to have a baby. Tom is shocked and wonders how he will handle it all given that he is only twenty-three and Mary twenty-two. Tom mulls things over and decides to move in with Mary and help her through her pregnancy and raise their coming child. Mary gives birth to a boy and all is well.
Fast forward five years. Tom and Mary are still living together and have been raising “their” child Paul, as a family, since Paul’s birth. But all is not well. Unknown to Tom, Mary has been having a relationship with “Peter” for years and she comes home one day and tells Tom that she is moving out and taking Paul with her and moving in with Peter. Then she drops the biggest bombshell of all: Tom is not Paul’s father, Peter is, as she had been having a relationship with Peter since before Paul’s birth.
What is poor Tom to do? Tom consults an attorney who advises him to file paternity papers in Family Court a.s.a.p. so that he can get a DNA test and find out if he really is Paul’s father. But there is a catch: under New York law, according to a 2006 New York Court of Appeals decision (the highest court in New York), Mary can potentially stop Tom from having the DNA test and can stop him from disputing Paul’s paternity. That’s right- in New York, a woman can lie to a man and tell him a child is his and convince the man that he is the father, and if the father believes it and acts like a father to the child, he can be stopped in the future from proving that the child is not his.
What about child support? Even though Tom is not the father, he will still be ordered to pay child support until the child is twenty-one. On the bright side, Tom will be entitled to court ordered visitation with the child, and could even argue that he should get custody. But that is not the end of the story.
The Court of Appeals has recently ruled that turnabout is indeed fair play, because in a case with facts very similar to Tom’s plight, the Court has ruled that the mother can also be prohibited from challenging paternity in certain situations. This means that in Tom’s case, she could not take Tom to Court to prove that Peter, not Tom, is the father.
The reasoning behind these cases is that the child, Paul, should not get stuck in the middle. Why should Paul, who thinks that Tom is his father, have the rug pulled out from under him? Personally, I am not crazy about these decisions, but I guess I haven’t made my mind up yet on whether it is good law or bad.
What do you think? Is it proper to stop Tom and Mary from finding out who really is Paul’s father? Send me your thoughts via e-mail to scott@cannonlaw.net.


Bookmark and Share

Free Book

An Insider's Guide to Avoiding Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Injury Case

Read More

The Ultimate Guide to Protecting Your Family From Irresponsible Drivers in New York

Read More

Talk To Me

Please fill out the form and we will be in touch with you shortly.

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Tell us more:


Law Offices of Scott D. Cannon
28 Main Street
Geneseo, New York 14454
Phone: (585) 243-9330
Toll Free: (800) 343-6918

Get Directions

©2010 Cannon Law Office, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
Attorney website design by Foster Web Marketing, the best attorney website design solution on the Web offering search engine optimization for attorneys, lawyer website design, video for attorneys, and more.
Get SEO Tips from The Attorney Internet Marketing Blog

Served By: A