QUESTION
If mother denies paternity test, can she still later down the road, collect back child support?
Asked on Sep 16th, 2013 on Child Custody - Utah
More details to this question:
A woman claimed me to be the father of her child. Being that it was a fling, I asked her for a DNA test which she denied. I fear of years down the road being hit with a huge child support bill when I did try to find out if the child was mine but she denied. I don't know or have time to file a paternity suit till later maybe next year.
4 ANSWERS
Commercial Contracts Attorney serving Boise, ID
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Peters Law, PLLC
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I don't know that you will be liable for back child support until it is proven. On the other hand you are the father and in my mind, that means I have obligations to the child and rights to the child regardless of my relationship with the mother. If you want to be an upstanding man, you will ask for a paternity test, be proud to pay child support and be in the child's life.
Answered on Sep 18th, 2013 at 4:57 AM
Child support orders are prospective from the date of filing for support, not retrospective back to the birth of the child.
Answered on Sep 18th, 2013 at 4:39 AM
A parentage action can be brought at any time while a child is a minor. There are some limits on how far back a court can go in assessing arrears for child support. In Utah, the court can only go back 4 or 5 years from the initiation of the action. The fact that the mother did not submit to a paternity test when you asked her to does not resolve the question of whether or not you are the biological father of the child. Since the mother may never follow through, you will have to decide if it is worth it to incur the expense of filing for parentage and obtaining paternity testing as opposed to waiting for the mother to take action.
Answered on Sep 18th, 2013 at 4:36 AM
Divorce & Family Law Attorney serving Salt Lake City, UT
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This is an excellent question, and one that comes up rather frequently. If you think about it, the fact that you offered or even demanded a DNA test back when the woman claimed you were the father of the infant would not change the fact that you either are or are not the father. The law in Utah is that a man who fathers a child is responsible for its financial support regardless of whether the mother immediately seeks support upon the birth of the child or wait until years later to seek support (including accrued, past-due amounts of child support). The fact that you offered to have a DNA test completed years ago and that the mother refused will actually garner you know sympathy in the court if years later you are shown to have been the father anyway. I will note, however, that there is a statute of limitations on seeking child support. Four years after the child reaches the age of majority, to be exact.
Answered on Sep 18th, 2013 at 4:27 AM