Could the father of a child win a child support case ?

[Reysa09]

My husband is filing for child support for his 2 children (ages 6 and 8). He told me he wasnt sure if he was the father of his daughter because his name isnt on the birth certificate. The kids stay with his mother most of the time.

Their mother is a piece of crap. She comes and goes as she pleases and she'd rather spend money on herself than the kids, or drop them off to her mothers house. She doesnt have her own place to stay and she almost had the kids taken away by CSS (no water, no stove, no refrigerator, kids dirty, kids held back in school). The kids want to live with him permanently. I told him to file for custody and child support. His court date is in September. Does he have a chance to win ? I heard courts often favor towards mothers more than fathers.

[MidwestUSA]

It's possible, not sure how likely.

 

My husband got 100% custody of his daughter back in 1994. It was fairly unheard of at the time. Her mother was a drunk, and ended up doing time in prison. In fact, she's back in now as a repeat, chronic offender.

 

Good luck to him!

[ShatteredLady]

Hi. Are you in the USA? I'm in Texas (near Dallas) & I know of a few Dads who have won complete custody of their children.

 

Our friend & old neighbor bought an expensive house with a swimming pool & a top of the range family car for his ex after she left him. He gave her a lot of money & she got a job so money or standard of living weren't a factor. He still won custody of his 3 kids under 10.

 

In her situation she was partying & having highly inappropriate men living in the house. Step 1 was getting a court order that these men were not allowed to be around his children. Step 2 random drug & alcohol testing.

 

Recently it was their sons birthday party. She arrived an hour late because 'she had to stop to buy a gift'. Then she left before the cake was cut (45 mins later) because she had a date with a man she met the night before!

 

Sometimes the judges are correct!!

 

For ALL the Dad's I've known who got custody it was a battle though. Usually 50/50 & the mother given a chance to sort herself out first. Sometimes the courts allow supervised visitation.

 

PLEASE remember that removing the mother completely from kids lives will cause a LOT of damage. Really think about how dangerous she is vs how much as ex's they hate eachother.

[vanhalenfan]

Yes, it is possible....HOWEVER, there will most likely be an issue with his name not on his daughter's birth certificate. This may cause a huge snag in the case. Without his name on her BC, he has absolutely no legal parental rights to her. i know there are ways around this with paternity testing warranted by the judge. I suggest speaking to a lawyer.

[minimariah]

He told me he wasnt sure if he was the father of his daughter because his name isnt on the birth certificate.

 

? i suggest he deals with this first, why wasn't this dealt with ALREADY?

 

The kids stay with his mother most of the time.

 

HIS mother...? why don't they stay with him?

 

...or drop them off to her mothers house.

 

wait... WHERE are those kids? where do they live? their mother, his mother, her mother, him...?

 

Does he have a chance to win ?

 

if you're serious about this - find a good lawyer; i don't think you'll find answers on this forum. you need some serious professional legal help.

[GunslingerRoland]

I have to ask, given the conditions that they live in when he has custody, why do they want to live with him? Are you overstating the problem with that situation, or is yours even worse?

 

 

I don't know if you have access to money or not, but a good lawyer and potentially a private investigator are the two things you need to invest in.

[whichwayisup]

My husband is filing for child support for his 2 children (ages 6 and 8). He told me he wasnt sure if he was the father of his daughter because his name isnt on the birth certificate. The kids stay with his mother most of the time.

Their mother is a piece of crap. She comes and goes as she pleases and she'd rather spend money on herself than the kids, or drop them off to her mothers house. She doesnt have her own place to stay and she almost had the kids taken away by CSS (no water, no stove, no refrigerator, kids dirty, kids held back in school). The kids want to live with him permanently. I told him to file for custody and child support. His court date is in September. Does he have a chance to win ? I heard courts often favor towards mothers more than fathers.

 

All he has to do is get a paternity test done to see if both kids are his. The court may ask him to take one since he isn't listed on the birth certificate.

[Miss Peach]

I heard courts often favor towards mothers more than fathers.

 

As someone who has gone through a divorce this is just bull****. Most courts in the US do not take this into account anymore. Though things really very from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some are very pro 50/50 and some are more EOW type schedules as the norm.

 

Since he's not on the BC he'll likely have to go through a paternity process first to establish he is the father. If they were married at the time of the birth then many places will consider him the father regardless. Not sure if he's paying support on them but this will often trigger that if he isn't already paying for them. This is usually pretty standard based on income and amount of custody/overnights.

 

To petition custody most courts require the person asking for the change to prove there is a change in circumstances that warrants the change. Most times courts are hesitant to change what has been working in the past so he'll need to show up with the change and proof of his argument.

 

These are generally civil trials which means that the judge will look at the proof, testimony, etc. and will rule based on who he/she believes. So it will may your case stronger the more evidence you have of what is going on.

 

Also, think of the children. This is what they currently know. It's often hard for kids to make dramatic sudden changes. Often judges are thinking for the children so also consider this in what you are asking for.