Can we have the child support reduced, if the parent is not financially stable?

A girl claimed my son to be the father of her child. He was sent papers to appear in court for child support etc., but never went to any of the hearings because he did not believe the child to be his. The courts then said he was the father and that he has to pay child support. He has not finished high school and has been in jail (after not going to his court dates) and has never made great money. How can we get child support reduced and how to find out if the child is even his?

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Answered By: Ruiz Law Group, P.C.

You will need to fight the paternity of the child. However, depending on how much time has past since the original order of support it may be difficult. You need to retain an attorney.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/2/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: Reza Athari & Associates, PLLC

It was very wrong not to go to court when summoned. You can ask the court to reopen the case and ask for a DNA test. It is about 10 times harder than it would have been had he responded in the first place. Then you can ask the court to base the child support on his actual income rather than whatever the mother told the court he made. Please learn a lesson here: go to court when summoned; it will NOT get better if you ignore it.

Answer Applies to: Nevada
Replied: 11/1/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: The Law Offices of Seth D. Schraier

To establish paternity, you need to apply to the Family Court with a motion to establish paternity. The judge will frequently order that DNA be taken to establish if your son is the father. If he shown to be the father, but cannot make the current child support payments that are required from him, then he should make a motion to modify the child support order, based upon a change of circumstance related to his economic situation.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/1/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: Theodore W. Robinson, P.C.

Unfortunately, he really blew it when he just tried to ignore it and didn't go to court when directed to do so. Normally, when paternity is an issue, the putative father can demand (and pay for) a DNA test using the child's blood, the mother's and the putative father’s blood to determine to almost 99% certainty that the child is really his. As a general rule, before anyone can be required to pay child support they must be given Due Process of Law under our Constitution. However, he may have waived that right by refusing to go to Court. I suggest he see an attorney who does this type of work right away to see what can be done for him from this point forward. He may still have some rights to open up the apparent Default that was already taken against him, but it won’t last forever. Nonetheless, the child support will last for the next 18 years if it stays the same and the courts don't go away and he can't even go Bankrupt from child support, so he'd better address the situation now. Good luck.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 10/31/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.