Late discovery of infidelity during marriage and conception of child

[rtn]

I am a Canadian Citizen who was in a relationship with a woman from Washington State and there are 4 children involved. After the marriage (forced due to cultural sensitivity) ended I was informed of Infidelity on her part. In question is the paternity of 2 of the children. The 1st born, as the Mother had been dating myself & another man (ex-boyfriend) who lived in the vicinity of her town, while I was visited by her on every other weekend. 7 years in I found out they still hung out . The 2nd was the 4th child who was conceived while I was away from the family home in Washington for a visit to Canada. I was confused and shocked when I went to the Dr's appt and was told another child was on the way, as the dates did not make sense, but was told I was mistaken on it, so I brushed it off thinking my mistake. My ex wife claims 3 of the 4 were conceived unplanned, as she was on Birth control and assured me I need not use protection (condoms) anymore. After the seperation, I found out that there is no such thing as Organic Birth Control pills, as she claimed she took because more natural. From the begining of relationship I expressed I wanted no children until well into my 30s to establish myself due to self employment. I had not dated much before and was quite naieve. In the end she filed in Washington State court and at the time I thought the children were mine, but now I am not ashamed to confess I had instinctive doubt on 1 child, but now believe it possible more. I was treated unfair and did not have the confidence, money or resources to know how to speak up in court. I did mention DNA test request when I 1st attended their court, but was ignored and given an amount to pay as well as a visitation schedule, which still isn't honored 8 out of ten times by the Mother. DO I HAVE THE RIGHT & HOW to request a paternity DNA test 6 years later?

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by rtn I am a Canadian Citizen who was in a relationship with a woman from Washington State and there are 4 children involved. After the marriage (forced due to cultural sensitivity) ended I was informed of Infidelity on her part. In question is the paternity of 2 of the children. The 1st born, as the Mother had been dating myself & another man (ex-boyfriend) who lived in the vicinity of her town, while I was visited by her on every other weekend. 7 years in I found out they still hung out . The 2nd was the 4th child who was conceived while I was away from the family home in Washington for a visit to Canada. I was confused and shocked when I went to the Dr's appt and was told another child was on the way, as the dates did not make sense, but was told I was mistaken on it, so I brushed it off thinking my mistake. My ex wife claims 3 of the 4 were conceived unplanned, as she was on Birth control and assured me I need not use protection (condoms) anymore. After the seperation, I found out that there is no such thing as Organic Birth Control pills, as she claimed she took because more natural. From the begining of relationship I expressed I wanted no children until well into my 30s to establish myself due to self employment. I had not dated much before and was quite naieve. In the end she filed in Washington State court and at the time I thought the children were mine, but now I am not ashamed to confess I had instinctive doubt on 1 child, but now believe it possible more. I was treated unfair and did not have the confidence, money or resources to know how to speak up in court. I did mention DNA test request when I 1st attended their court, but was ignored and given an amount to pay as well as a visitation schedule, which still isn't honored 8 out of ten times by the Mother. DO I HAVE THE RIGHT & HOW to request a paternity DNA test 6 years later?

As the married spouse of this woman, you are presumed to be the biological father of ALL children born during the marriage. The circumstances haven't changed. Neither of the other potential fathers have come forward and claimed the children or demanded a paternity test to establish themselves as the biological father.

Washington State law addresses the timeframe in which you are able to rebut your presumption of paternity as the married spouse:

RCW 26.26.530 Proceeding to adjudicate parentage — Time limitation: Child having presumed parent. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, a proceeding brought by a presumed parent, the person with a parent-child relationship with the child, or another individual to adjudicate the parentage of a child having a presumed parent must be commenced not later than four years after the birth of the child. If an action is commenced more than two years after the birth of the child, the child must be made a party to the action. (2) A proceeding seeking to disprove the parent-child relationship between a child and the child's presumed parent may be maintained at any time if the court determines that the presumed parent and the person who has a parent-child relationship with the child neither cohabited nor engaged in sexual intercourse with each other during the probable time of conception and the presumed parent never held out the child as his or her own.

Your timeline is unclear as to how old your children were when the divorce proceedings took place, but according to this information you are AT LEAST 2 years too late to challenge paternity now. Like it or not, you are stuck.

You should also be aware that child support and visitation are two entirely different issues. One can be paying child support and not have the ability to visit their child, just as one can be visiting their child and NOT pay their child support. The right to visitation does not rely on whether or not one is paying their child support obligations.

If you are having a problem with her not honoring the court-ordered visitation schedule, I would suggest that you pursue a contempt order with the court based upon that. However, whether or not she allows you to visit the children, you will STILL be obligated to support them.

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by rtn I am a Canadian Citizen who was in a relationship with a woman from Washington State and there are 4 children involved. After the marriage (forced due to cultural sensitivity) ended I was informed of Infidelity on her part. In question is the paternity of 2 of the children. The 1st born, as the Mother had been dating myself & another man (ex-boyfriend) who lived in the vicinity of her town, while I was visited by her on every other weekend. 7 years in I found out they still hung out . The 2nd was the 4th child who was conceived while I was away from the family home in Washington for a visit to Canada. I was confused and shocked when I went to the Dr's appt and was told another child was on the way, as the dates did not make sense, but was told I was mistaken on it, so I brushed it off thinking my mistake. My ex wife claims 3 of the 4 were conceived unplanned, as she was on Birth control and assured me I need not use protection (condoms) anymore. After the seperation, I found out that there is no such thing as Organic Birth Control pills, as she claimed she took because more natural. From the begining of relationship I expressed I wanted no children until well into my 30s to establish myself due to self employment. I had not dated much before and was quite naieve. In the end she filed in Washington State court and at the time I thought the children were mine, but now I am not ashamed to confess I had instinctive doubt on 1 child, but now believe it possible more. I was treated unfair and did not have the confidence, money or resources to know how to speak up in court. I did mention DNA test request when I 1st attended their court, but was ignored and given an amount to pay as well as a visitation schedule, which still isn't honored 8 out of ten times by the Mother. DO I HAVE THE RIGHT & HOW to request a paternity DNA test 6 years later?

What were these proceedings you attended at court? A divorce? If so, and child support was ordered, the court went on the presumption that you were the father as is the legal presumption.

Six years after a final decree was entered is too late to protest.

[rtn]

I am well awae that there are 3 different things going on in my case as support is seperate. I have paid diligently from day 1, and when doing well financially I gave above the set amount. The youngest child was 2.5 years old when I filed for divorce from Canada
She responded and requested it be in Washington. Little did I know how bad it would be to agree to that. The 1st court appearance I did request a DNA test for paternity and it was ignored.
I did some research online and found others men who had similar life experiences and found that men have sued women in court for past support attained knowing that another could be the biological father. Did not matter if any other men did or didn't come forward to claim the child, beacause they may not have known or did, but didn't care.

Forgot to add that she has relatives & family friends that work for the court house and child support program . I did have to submit a complaint twice because her Aunt claimed to not have some papers I had sent and she was caught lying but lamely admitted to misplacing them. This delay was not in my favor

I am now frustrated on my application submitted regarding the support payments to be adjusted/modified as I have had a career change and no longer make what I did in 2005 - 2008 due to the field I was in had gone down drastically. My current support amt was based on the years 2006 - 2008. Not much income from 2009 - 2011, so I did a job change to have a steady income so I could provide support and survive

? ? My question is : Does the law in Washington require that they base my support amount on my 3 years previous income, or can it be on my new income from a steady source, where I now belong to a Union and I happily have my support go to Family Maintenance Enforcement.

Thnx, rtn

[Lexus]

I would like to inform you that the Washington state Legislature sets the amount of child support a parent has to pay for each child based on the parent's income, the number of children and each child's age. Support payments are intended to cover a child's basic costs of living, and a court order can modify support awards to account for additional costs such as insurance, schooling and day care. If you are late on child support payments, Washington imposes interest on the overdue balance.