As a father in Minnesota, you have certain rights as a parent. Outside of these rights, you also have responsibilities, such as continuing to help care for a child in the event of a divorce. This is where paternity fraud can come in and affect your life. But what exactly is paternity fraud?
The National Institutes of Health have taken a look at paternity fraud, which is considered by some to be a mild epidemic in America currently. Paternity fraud is, in essence, the false claim that you are the father of a child when you aren’t. This is usually done by a mother in the event of a divorce in which child support payments are to be made. Under law, only the legal father of a child is obligated to pay child support. Thus, in order to secure that money, it’s possible for the mother to lie about paternity status. It’s also possible for paternity fraud to occur unintentionally, if the mother genuinely does not know you aren’t the father.
Fortunately, it is possible to determine paternity through DNA tests. The struggle often comes after paternity has been disproven. By that point, you may have already lost thousands of dollars in child support payments that you did not legally have to pay. Many fathers may wish to take their case to court at this point in order to be compensated for the money they lost during this time.
If that’s an option you would like to look into, consider speaking with an experienced attorney. They can help you out if you decide to take further legal action.