
07-17-2008, 02:58 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by new_earth
I think you double posted by mistake. I answered most of this in your other post.
He will not have to reimburse anything from the pregnancy. The custody/support laws only start once the child is born and one of the parents take a legal action.
Child support depends on how much visitation the court grants (and the child support laws of your state). Say if you both ended up with joint legal and joint physical (50/50) he might not have to pay any. But considering the child will be a newborn/infant, you would probably end up with more visitation than him so he would most likely have to pay it.
EITHER WAY, once the child is born, I do believe you can go right to court and file for child support, even before he files for any custody or visitation. The court would track down the dad and have him take a paternity test to make sure he is the Dad. I guess it will depend on how much of the law your child's dad knows - if he knows he can file for visitation right away, he might do it right away as soon as the child is born. You'll have to wait and see I guess. You can't do anything right now, until the child is born.
So - for you, once you have the baby, I think you should file for child support right away. He will still go to court himself to get visitation, but at least in the meantime you can be getting support money from him.
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First of all, you are incorrect in stating that child support or financial support NEVER begins before the child is born.
Hodges v. Hodges, 147 NC App 478 (00-1293) 12/04/2001 is a good example of just such a case where the father was ordered to pay prenatal care, hospital expenses, etc. While this doesn't mean that this particular poster can expect the father to pay for those charges, what it does mean is that it DOES happen. Also, if she is paying out of pocket ( as opposed to welfare, medicaid, etc) for the birth, it is more than reasonable for her to ask the court for the father to pay some part of the prenatal charges. Obviously, this is done after paternity is established by a DNA test which is ordered in virtually in 100% of the cases to avoid the couple coming back later arguing over paternity. My point is, it is incorrect to state that the father is NEVER ordered to assume financial responsibility for the prenatal charges/birth, etc.
Also, the notion of no support being ordered when custody is 50/50 is most often applied in situations where the income is relatively equitable. But, since the poster is not working and is in school, child support ( if the father is working) would probably be ordered if his ability to pay is higher than the mothers. In other words 50/50 can be ordered and one party still be ordered to pay the other if one has a significantly higher income.
To the original poster---I am speaking as not only a mother and a law student, but also as a former social worker for a non-profit adoption agency in Georgia----the biological fathers go through as much of a continuum of emotions as do the mothers of these babies born to unmarried parents. It isn't uncommon for a biological father to run the gamut from offering full support to denying the child outright. The safest thing to do is to assume NO help from him whatsoever----he can be ordered to pay child support----but you know how that goes. Plan for the worst, expect the best --and take care of yourself.
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