Saturday, October 24, 2009

Does a paternity test help in a custody battle?

The father of my daughter who is 3 and currently lives with her grandmother is seeking full custody but he is not her blood father, will that affect his chances of getting her if a DNA test were done?
Answer:
It may not matter what the results are; if he has been the "defacto" father and has raised her as his own for any period of time, a paternity test where he does not come as the father will not eliminate him for getting custody of the child. The Courts will decide what is in the best interest of the child.

If the biological father was not informed previously by the mother, wants the DNA test and wants custody, it could end up being a 3 way battle for custody.

You need to consult with a lawyer in your State as laws vary depending on where you reside and too many other factors come into play. Custody battles are always long and expensive and you will need an attorney to guide you through the process.
You can figure it out eventually.
paternity will definately play a big part in this case, especially if he isn't the real dad.
Uh, YEAH, if he was proven not to be her father then it would be like any other random person demanding custody.
If his name is on the birth certificate and he has been acting as the father since day one, a paterntity test may not disqualify him from getting custody. Cases like this almost always require a lawyer to help out.
definetly!!....
Depends. If you and the blood father don't want custody he could be awarded. If the court sees you or the blood father as unfit he could be awarded.

Otherwise you have nothing to worry about.
That's a tough legal question. In 99.9% of the custody cases, paternity tests, do in fact, determine the biological dad. In your case, if the child's non-biological father still wishes to adopt your daughter after discovering this information, in all likelihood, the court will see in his favor especially since you are a non-custodial parent. Two things are at test here:
1) the child is not biologically the paternal father's daughter, and 2) you do not have custody which does not look favorably in a court situation.

Good luck with this. It's a difficult position to be in.
Normally custody is awarded to one of a child's natural parents, BUT if you told him he was the father and you collected child support from him, etc. now might not be a good time to bring that up and the courts can prevent it if you knew and didn't care to raise the issue till it helped you. In Florida there was a boy who was shot. He had been raised since birth by his mom and a her boyfriend who acted like his dad. When the shooting hit the papers and the folks figured out that money might be involved, the "real" biological father filed suit to get his part of the money and the court told him that being a sperm donor was not enough to make him a dad and they let the guy who served as his dad his whole life get the money that otherwise would have gone to the father. Also the courts do not have to award custody to either natural parent. Sounds like this kid is not living w/ either of his/her natural parents and the courts can consider all the living arrangments and decide what is best for the kid.

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