Have you recently learned you are not the father of a child you thought was yours?  You’re not alone.  Countless men throughout Florida and around the country have taken part in raising a child, only to discover later in life that the child is not biologically theirs.  In these types of situations, there are ways in which a man can disestablish paternity .  Once paternity has been dissolved, a man will no longer be required to pay child support and will have no further legal or financial obligations to the child.

If you are interested in disestablishing paternity, it is important to obtain representation from an experienced paternity lawyer.  Any paternity matter will be an extensive process, as the courts want to ensure the child’s best interest is protected at all times.  Disestablishing paternity often involves taking a court-ordered DNA test, and the court may want to evaluate when the child was conceived and what your relationship to the mother was at the time.  Although dissolving paternity may seem like an open-and-shut matter, things can get more complicated than you realize.  For example, last week we posted a blog about Christopher Martin, who was trying to disestablish paternity after learning he wasn’t the father of a little boy.  Even after a DNA test proved he wasn’t the biological father, the court would not dissolve his paternity because he was $30,000 behind on his child support payments. 

The case of Christopher Martin of Sarasota sheds light on a paternity issue that all men should be aware of.

Martin’s situation began when he had sex one night with Dannis Barrows, a woman he previously had a romantic relationship with but was no longer involved with.  When Barrows claimed to be pregnant with his child, Martin believed her.

The Florida child support agency then urged him to sign a form acknowledging his paternity of the child, and, because Martin didn’t know otherwise, agreed to do so without insisting on a paternity test. Then, at some point, Barrows revealed that Martin was not the father of the baby.

Martin then asked for a paternity test, but the court would not grant him one.  Martin said Barrows intentionally kept the child away from him so that he couldn’t get the sample he needed for a private DNA test, and that she even took him to her native Colombia where she left the baby with relatives for about a year while she returned to Florida.

During that time, Martin stopped making child support payments, even though the state kept coming after him for money.

Martin’s luck changed when Barrows brought the child back to Florida and not long after was arrested for DUI with the boy in the car.  Martin got the child briefly, during which he swabbed the boy’s check and got a private DNA test.

That’s when he learned the truth: he was not the boy’s father.  Martin brought this fact to the attention of the court, but the court said it could not consider the test results as evidence in his case.  Why? The court said it could not guarantee that the samples were actually taken from Martin and the boy.  

What should people take away from this?  That even if you get your own DNA test, it does not mean the court has to consider the results. Furthermore, if the results indicate that you are not the father, the court can still require you to pay child support.   You must get a DNA test through the court in order for it to consider the results as evidence in your case.

So Martin tried to obtain a court-ordered paternity test but was unsuccessful. That’s where luck came in again.  Barrows was arrested on DUI charges again, and again the child was in car.  That’s when the courts finally became concerned for the boy’s well-being.  The courts tried to give custody to Martin, but he refused, saying the boy was not his son. The courts then ordered him to take a paternity test.

When the results indicated that he was not the father, Martin thought his child support obligations would end there.  Turns out that wasn’t the case.  

Under Florida law, in order for a man to dissolve paternity he must be current on all child support payments.  Since Martin is more than $30,000 behind on his payments, the state won’t dissolve his paternity.

Martin is now fighting to get his paternity dissolved by applying another statute. The law says that paternity can be dissolved “only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact.”

In Martin’s case, because Barrows lied to him about the real parentage of her son, both fraud and material mistake of fact could apply.

For now, Martin’s case still remains unresolved.  Who knows if he will ever get off the hook, or if the state will continue to hold him financially responsible for the child.