Q: Can a 25-year-old child take her father to child support for arrears?
Twenty-six years ago, I was in a relationship with a woman who claimed she was pregnant with my child. When I requested a DNA test to confirm paternity, she became furious and refused to cooperate. Now, twenty-five years later, my daughter has reached out to me, saying her mother told her I am her father and that she is willing to undergo a DNA test to establish this. Consequently, I would like to know if I could face legal action for child support arrears.
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A:
There is not enough information here to answer this question. We do not know if the mother falsified a child support petition when the daughter was very young. The mother could have filed, falsified an affidavit of service that the asker was properly served, and could have gotten an order on default.
Support arrears are subject to a twenty year statute of limitations meaning that the order is enforceable starting in the year twenty years ago from today. Such an order would terminate when the daughter turned twenty one exposing this asker to sixteen years of child support - the twenty years minus four that came after the daughter turned twenty one. If the mother assigned her order to local government, then the asker would owe money to the government and not the mother in the same amount.
However, if the mother never obtained an order on default, then there is no way the asker can be hit with arrears for claiming his child. There had to be an in-force order of support to owe arrearages to the other parent.
We do not have enough information to posit a response.
A: I infer the mother never started a child support action against you, so no support order, much less arrears, was ever put in place. It is highly unlikely that the child, now an adult, can request child support from a court. I cannot think of an exception, but to be sure, contact a local family law attorney to research it for you.
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