SA Child Support Obligations for Unknown Children?

[Concernedwife]

Recently my husband was contacted by a woman whom believes they had one evening of liaisons 10 years ago. She sent photos, said she didn't expect anything but asked if he would like to meet him. Obviously it was a shock. But if it is his child, we will be involved.

My query is 2 fold:

What child support obligations do we have if my husband's name is not in the birth certificate?
Do we have child support obligations for the first ten years of this boy's life given we were unaware of his existence?
Do we have the right to dna testing?

It's a very confusing situation. But we want to do what is right but also want to protect ourselves a little.

 

[sammy01]

Child support is payable from the time of application - so no 10 years worth of back pay (fhew...). You can get an estimate of how much child support is payable by going to the dept human services website. then do a search for online estimators.

You could refuse to accept responsibility - it would then require court orders for a paternity test and after that, you'd have to pay child support. Or you could go see a doctor about getting a paternity test for peace of mind - this would require the mother's permission.

As far as having a relationship with the child that is something that both parents would have to come to an agreement on or seek court orders.

The mother and child have no other legal entitlements except - the child could have a case for a claim against his estate if he passed away. Look most people don't have a will - I'm 40 I don't have one and I really should because of my family law situation / kids / ex wife / new wife, etc. Messy - but it is something that he might wanna be aware of down the track.

As his wife, you'd be the obvious benefactor of his estate, but the kid might have a claim - might not actually win the court case but the child could have grounds to apply to court for a piece of the pie.
Now please note I have said "could' and 'might'. So there are way too many variables for this to be an overwhelming concern...

 

[Concernedwife]

Thank you, that was a wonderfully informative answer.

One last question if you don't mind- we recently set a business up, which is actually funded by me, but we made him the director to protect my estate (I own a relatively decent home).

Given we would have profit from our business in addition to his salary, would child support take business profit into consideration we creating the payment estimate?

And yes- it is time to get a Will!

 

[MartyK]

Does your husband remember this woman and encounter?

If the reason for the out of the blue contact is due to the child's own requests to the mother to meet his father, to save any confusion if your husband is not the father, maybe a DNA test could be requested prior to any meeting between child and "father". Thinking of prospective emotional impacts to child if your husband is not the father.

 

[Concernedwife]

Does your husband remember this woman and encounter?

If the reason for the out of the blue contact is due to the child's own requests to the mother to meet his father, to save any confusion if your husband is not the father, maybe a DNA test could be requested prior to any meeting between child and "father". Thinking of prospective emotional impacts to child if your husband is not the father.

Good question.

I'm not sure- he is in shock at the moment. He doesn't really recall at this point. It was well and truely before we met, and he would have been all of about 23 years old when it happened. (Old enough to use a condom! But she would have been old enough to communicate the outcome too. It's disappointing)

The photos do show resemblance. I was a single mother before we married after my partner left so I have no issues that he may have a child, just upset that if it is his, he has missed out on 10 years and am quite baffled by her motivations 10 years down the track.

My main concern is ensuring we are a little protected as all our assets are mostly mine, which I built as a single mother without support myself. I want to make sure we don't have to pay for the first 10 years that we didn't know about.

I want to protect our new company and I want to ensure we do what is right by the child as well.

 

[sammy01]

An anonymous call to CSA 131 272 will rest your concerns about back pay. While you're there you can ask about business profits. I'm a teacher, I used to pay child support based on my income from tax returns, so I don't know about the other stuff.

Mum's motivation? Who knows - maybe the kid has been asking about his/her dad?

I reckon it is bloody good help to speak to a doctor about getting a paternity test done prior to meeting the kid. Just makes sense not to introduce the child to someone who could wind up down the track to not be his...