Alright, so nobody knows where the father is, and Lord only knows how long it’ll take me to find him. We broke up before the baby was born. I at least want my kid to have a chance when she’s older if I can’t afford to pay for schooling or buy her a car fully on my own.
Let’s say it takes me two years to locate him. By the time parentage is confirmed and child support is in place after serving, will the court order for him to pay child support that he would’ve had to during those 2 years?
Just to clarify, technically you haven’t proven he is the father. And maybe he isn’t.
He is the father regardless; DNA will be done because I’m requesting parentage. We were together, and he was the only person I slept with. We only separated because he got upset when I would call my 5-year-old (from a previous marriage) to say goodnight while she was at her dad’s. He gave me an ultimatum: it was either her or him, and I chose her.
After that, he blocked me, changed his number, and told me never to contact him again. He would apologize, then lash out and say he wanted involvement with the baby, but he got upset when his sister told him I was openly sharing how he treated me. That led to us stopping contact again, only for him to apologize a month later, repeating the same pattern. He happily claims her publicly but won’t help anymore or see her. He recently moved out of his grandma’s because she got mad at him for almost losing his job due to drinking; he doesn’t take judgment well so he moved but won’t tell anyone where.
Is it part of your petition? File a proposed final child support order alongside your petition that you serve him. That way, you preserve the request up front.
Did he acknowledge paternity at all? Talk to a prosecuting attorney’s office. They should be able to help you establish parentage.
He wasn’t there for the birth, but I do have texts where he refers to her as his daughter. He has even bought her some gear a few months before going AWOL.
That doesn’t count.