Child support is not always the proper legal outcome

For men in Nevada and across the nation, issues concerning paternity are a difficult subject to broach. No one wants to question the paternity of their own children, as doing so often feels like trying to shirk one’s duty to their kids. However, the fact remains that men are placed in the position of trusting their partners when it comes to matters of paternity, and in far too many cases they find that they have been deceived. In the worst cases, they are also defrauded, when child support is ordered and paid for a child that was never their own.

Such is the case for one man making national headlines who sued his former partner after paying nearly $30,000 in child support and other financial assistance for a child that was not his own. He had doubts concerning the child’s paternity, but believed the mother’s claims that the child was his. However, when the mother recently took steps to have her new husband adopt the child, the paternity issue was clarified via DNA testing.

As a result, the man who once believed that he was the father of her child is not suing the woman for the full amount of support she fraudulently received, as well as $100,000 in punitive damages and his court costs. He claims that the mother not only lied to him regarding the issue of paternity, but also lied to the court at the time that child support was ordered. Many across the nation will watch this case closely to see how the court will approach the matter.

Aside from the financial losses this man has been subjected to, there is also an emotional component to being led to believe that a child was his own when that was not the case. Not to mention the damage done to the child, who will likely learn that the man once thought of a parent is not related at all. It is hoped that the court considers the damage done by this act of child support deception, and acts accordingly. The case also serves as a reminder to men in Nevada and elsewhere that a gut feeling concerning paternity is well worth following up on with DNA testing.

Source: Source: kmov.com, “Lawsuit: Man pays thousands in child support, finds out child’s not his,” July 31, 2013