Posted on 02/10/2007 7:19:53 PM PST by ellery
A Florida Supreme Court case raises fundamental questions about the nature of fatherhood and legal responsibilities.
Sixteen months after his divorce, Richard Parker made a devastating discovery. A DNA test revealed that his 3-year-old son had been fathered by someone else.
Mr. Parker immediately filed a lawsuit claiming fraud by his apparently unfaithful ex-wife. He took his case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.
Last week, the Florida justices ruled 7-0 against him. They said that Parker must continue to pay $1,200 a month in child support because he had missed the one-year postdivorce deadline for filing his lawsuit. His court-ordered payments would total more than $200,000 over 15 years to support another man's child.
"We find that the balance of policy considerations favors protecting the best interests of the child over protecting the interests of one parent defrauded by the other parent in the midst of a divorce proceeding," writes Justice Kenneth Bell for the court.
"We recognize that the former husband in this case may feel victimized," he writes. He then quotes a scholar to explain the ruling: "While some individuals are innocent victims of deceptive partners, adults are aware of the high incidence of infidelity and only they, not the children, are able to act to ensure that the biological ties they may deem essential are present."
In effect, the high court is saying it's partly Parker's fault for trusting his wife.
The Parker case illustrates an increasingly contentious debate over the rights and responsibilities of divorced fathers who have been duped and don't challenge paternity at or near the time of divorce. But it also raises fundamental questions about the nature of fatherhood and the legal responsibilities that can attach to a father-child relationship – even when that relationship is the result of fraud...
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
I think I would be suing the mother for fraud and lover boy for child support reimbursment.
So what should men do now?Insist on DNA testing of your children at birth?It may well come to that if you don't want to get hosed by a unfaithful wife and her lover.
Welcome to Amerika.
Watch for the stampede of men that hate their ex wives that will start calling names, and bitchin' and moaning about their child support obligations, and how hard their lives are because of it....
I'm glad my kid looks just like me.
Holy crap!
How much does the father have to pay?
I see a federal lawsuit in the near future.
I'm glad my kid looks just like me.
__________________________________________
So does the other guy.
//Extreme Sarcasm//
How is it that the biological father is allowed to skate? Why isn't he responsible for $1,200 a month in support?
There was a bill in the California legislature that called for mandatory DNA testing at birth. I'm pretty sure it died, but men (and boys, unfortunately) are becoming more aware of the need for it. I've read figures of 6-10% of kids born are not the named father's kids.
Where's that story where the divorced father paid child support and found out when the daughter would have turned 18 that she had actually died in 1993 but nobody (not the State of California, not the State of Texas or, God forbid, not the mother) bothered to tell him this while they stole his wages and cashed his checks all those years?
Face it guys, you're just an ATM to them. Nothing more. You have no rights.
"While we recognize the man may feel victimized," says the State of Florida, "tough sh!t."
Because the husband is more likely to be employed than the boyfriend
Well, he was never married to the bitch. You see, marriage in these cases is like putting a gun up to your own head.
Wow. You really are one bitter broad, aren't you?
Another reason to never marry.
Why does the non-father have to pay? Why does the biological father walk away scott free?
Go after HIM for child support. The law should be rewritten to go after the cheaters, both of them, not the innocent.
If it were me, I'd find a very creative lawyer who'd be willing to test the waters and go after the biological father.
And yes, I believe dna tests should now be standard, and attached to the birth certificate. I hate the idea, but I'd rather have that safeguard than not.
Another reason to never marry.
Why does the non-father have to pay? Why does the biological father walk away scott free?
Go after HIM for child support. The law should be rewritten to go after the cheaters, both of them, not the innocent.
If it were me, I'd find a very creative lawyer who'd be willing to test the waters and go after the biological father.
And yes, I believe dna tests should now be standard, and attached to the birth certificate. I hate the idea, but I'd rather have that safeguard than not.
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