just found out he existed

[pjwshadow]

Two weeks ago, I received a phone call at 2am from a guy in Oklahoma. He asked several personal questions about my husband and if he was once in the military and where he was stationed, etc... to make a long story short, he informed me that he was my husband's son. The next day he contacted us again and spoke to my husband at that time. Apparantly my husband and this woman who was a dancer in a bar in TX had a one night stand. She gave birth to this boy who is now almost 18 years old. My husband never knew of this conception and has had no contact with this woman or this boy in almost 18 years. Today we get a voicemail from a lady in Oklahoma wanting to speak to my husband about possible paternity for this boy and that the woman(mother) of this boy is seeking back child support for the last 17 1/2 years. What do we do now? Can she do that? Can she be awarded child support for a person that we never knew existed and still don't know anything about other than their word on this. We have no pictures, we have nothing. Is there a statute of limitations on this? Does she have a legal claim? We live in Kentucky. Please advise.

It is normally very difficult to obtain more than a small portion of past support.

And it is not certain yet who is the father.

If it proceeds it may a good idea however to review the situation and details with counsel--WLD can certainly help if need be.

Here in PA, she would not be able to obtain back support for 17 1/2 years. It was her choice back when the child was born to not pursue it. The only way she can get back support is if she files, let's say today, and the case doesn't get decided until January, THEN your husband would owe back support from today until January and from then on until the child turns 18. But if he is already 18, she doesn't have a leg to stand on. (unless he is a student)

[pjwshadow]

Thank you all for replying. Is there a statute of limitation on proving paternity. I was on the internet yesterday and found that some states do have such....like 4-6 years, if the alleged father was never informed of the conception or birth and the child was raised as someone elses. Is this true? They want my husband to submit voluntarily for paternity testing. Others have told me that we need to wait and be ordered by the courts if she choses to pursue this. It is my understanding that this woman has drawn quite a bit of assistance from the state and now she is in trouble with them and that is what has instigated this whole "find your father" thing. If it wasn't for that, we still would have never known that this young man existed. It is also my understanding that she can't file for 17 years of back support since my husband was never given the opportunity to be a part of this boys life or up-bringing. Still nervous about this whole thing.

[pooh_200619]

Okay in mos states there is a statue of limitations on filling paperwork for back child support.. But the issue is this he was in the war and the woman that is claiming the boy is his child she never informed this man in 17 1/2 years so there for she can not claim or file for back child support nor can she ask the courts for child support for this young man since he has never ever been informed that this boy was his son he has never been notified by any-one that he had a child..Plus for him to have to pay child support now he would have to take a paternity test that the courts ordered which yes he can willingly take the test that the woman wants him to but he would be better off waiting for the paperwork thru the courts to order him to take the test so that the courts can review this and see that she has never wanted him to see this child and that he did not know that he was even concieved with her..Once the paternity is established it will be up to the courts for him to pay child support to the boy from the time paternity was established till he is 18 or till 19 years of age if he is in school full time..but that is it once he turns 19 years of age if going to school full time he will no longer have to pay child support,.. but he will have to pay medical and part of college if he decides to go if the court agrees to it cause if he was raised by another man for 17 1/2 years then the judge will ask your husband what he wants to do and it will be up to him to decide what he wants if the child turns out to be his.. that is the best advice that I can give you...Good Luck...