Mommy's Baby... Daddy's Maybe...

You receive a notice from the District Attorney that you must come in and discuss with them paying child support for a baby that your girlfriend just had. You girlfriend is on welfare. You are pretty sure the child is yours. Nine months prior to the date of birth you were living with your girlfriend. The child looks like you. To the best of your knowledge there was no other man in her life ..... You figure might as well stipulate to paternity ....

Wrong !!!!!.... remember if you stipulate to paternity you can never withdraw your consent. You will pay child support until the child is emancipated .... that means 18 or 19 years. If you are not absolutely positive the child is yours ask for a blood test or a DNA test to determine paternity ... it is the best money you will ever spend.

A recent case from the California Second District Appellate Court confirms this rule .... In the Case of Robert J. V Leslie R.M. the court ruled that the Father was barred from bringing suit for nonpaternity after he discovered that he was not the child's biological Father because he had previously stipulated to paternity without seeking a blood test.

In the Robert J case, Father and Mother had a fling in Texas. Mother gives birth to a child. Father moves to California. A year later the county DA files a complaint to establish paternity and seeks child support. Father stipulates to paternity without seeking a blood test or consulting an attorney. For the next 4 years Father questions whether he is really the father. Father gets Mother to take a blood test. The blood test exclude Father as the child's biological father. Father files a complaint to establish non-paternity. Father and Mother stipulated that Father is not the biological father of the child. Father says that to require him to pay child support for a child that is not his own is unfair. The District Attorney tells the judge that this is a "done deal" and Father cannot go back and relitigate the issue, plus terminating paternity is not in the child's best interest. Father appeals. The appellate court affirms the lower court. The appellate courts says that Father voluntarily and knowingly stipulated to paternity judgment that is now final and he cannot go back and undo his agreement. Depriving the child of Father's child support does not serve justice. If the court allowed Father to get out of agreement this would set a bad precedent in other cases.

The bottom line: If you have any doubt about whether you are the father get a blood or DNA test... Its the best money you will ever spend.