In Australia, a man took his 14-year-old son for a DNA paternity test. He had been suspicious for some time that the boy was not his son due to several comments that the boy looking nothing like him and the fact that he caught his wife in, uh, unusual circumstances with a neighbor. The paternity test sadly confirmed his suspicions that the boy was most definitely NOT his biological son.
The couple was already divorced after 25 years of marriage, and the man had been paying $700 every month for child support plus school fees and his trips overseas. One he learned that he was not the father, he took his ex-wife back to court, and she was ordered to repay him the $12,969 from child support, which includes $4,038 in court costs. She has only 12 months to do so.
On the one hand, this sounds like a grand victory for a man who was essentially swindled into paying thousands for child support. However, the case took an even sadder turn in that the man has chosen to no longer be in contact with the boy who has believed this man was his father for 14 years. It’s been a year and a half since the boy saw him.
It’s certainly understandable that the man feels some resentment for being tricked into paying child support, but in all respects, the boy was completely innocent of all of his mother’s wrongdoings. Through no fault of his own, he’s been cast aside from the only father figure he has ever known. His mother may have lost out a good sum of money, but it’s plain to see that the boy has lost the most in this mess.
Australia obviously has different laws than the state of Texas, but based on recent changes to the law detailed in one of our earlier blog posts, it’s not too far-fetched to think that a similar case could happen right here. Most of us can agree that this was not handled well on all fronts. This boy was sadly a pawn in his parents’ warfare against one another, or was possibly the unknowing victim of the mother’s greed or ignorance. Regardless, this case clearly calls to attention that when going through a divorce, parties must think of what is best for their children and not for them personally. It also stresses the importance of resolving the issues of support and paternity sooner rather than later. Father’s have a right to request testing; in some cases, it might not be a bad idea.