Our client is concerned that her child's putative father is refusing to acknowledge the paternity of her daughter. She has been asking him to "step up" for several months, and she's afraid that she will need to seek public assistance if she doesn't get some support. Her hours were recently cut back at her minimum wage job, and her mother will not be able to mind the baby much longer due to health issues. What will we need to consider in order to put together a plan for her?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

We will need to establish paternity. We will use the type of paternity action available in our state, and file and serve him as soon as possible. We may need the court to order DNA testing if he denies paternity. If he acknowledges paternity but is just avoiding support, we can get a court ruling. We can ask for support according to our state Child Support Guidelines, but we need to be ready for him to seek visitation or even custody. It seems unlikely from his history. If she cannot locate or serve him, and she needs to go on public assistance, she will need to help the IV-D agency identify and locate him. They may be able to extract support from him.