January 2012 Archives - DentonTexasDivorce.com

Paternity Tests Can Now Exonerate Non-Fathers from Paying Child Support

January 30, 2012 By Duane L. Coker Leave a Comment

In case you are just as unaware as millions of other men in the state of Texas, it’s possible that in your divorce, or other paternity matter, you you were forced to pay child support for a child who isn’t even yours. Thankfully, as of 2011, a new statute allows men, who as a result of mistaken belief that they were the father of a child at the time paternity was established, to request a paternity test even after their divorce or paternity proceeding has been finalized. This is in cases in which that mistaken belief was caused by the misrepresentation of the mother. If the DNA test proves that a child is not theirs, they can request the court to terminate the parent-child relationship and stop child support. It may even be possible to continue a relationship with the child, though whether that is in the child’s best interest will be determined by the Judge.

This is huge for the unfortunately large number of men who have been forced to pay child support for children that have been proven not to be theirs. This way, these fathers can decide for themselves whether they wish to financially support these children, and most importantly, HOW they want to do so. If they still want to support these children, they can do so by buying them clothes, paying for school tuition, or paying for medical insurance and not by sending a check to their mothers.

So, if you are one of these men who already has a finalized divorce and child support agreement, or who signed an Acknowledgment of Paternity for a child based on the mother’s representation that you were the father (and now you’re not so sure), you can start the paternity testing process to terminate the forced child support, but, as in most legal proceedings, you have a time limit.

If you have known, or suspected, that you weren’t the father for years, you have until September 1, 2012 to file . After that date, if the court learns that you knew you weren’t the father or that you should have known you weren’t the father before September 1, 2011, then you can NEVER terminate your child support. In other words, after September 1, 2012, you must file within 1 year from the time you discovered, or should have discovered, that you might not be the father.

If you already suspect you aren’t the father, there is no time to waste if you want to cease child support. After September 1, 2012, you will have to be able prove that you only recently learned that the child in question isn’t yours.

If you are paying child support for a child who is not yours or you know someone who is, it is time to contact an attorney who specializes in family law to start working on the case. Don’t wait too long or you may miss your window of opportunity.

Filed Under: Child Support, Texas Family Law

Texas Requirements for an Annulment

January 23, 2012 By Duane L. Coker 2 Comments

We’ve already gone over the differences between a divorce and an annulment, and now we will venture into what the state of Texas requires to grant an annulment. As mentioned before, it takes more than just irreconciliable differences for a judge to grant an annulment. The following stipulations make a marriage potentially voidable, and therefore meet the requirements for Texas to annul your marriage. There may be other grounds, including fraud or duress, that aren’t discussed here and it’s important to remember that the reasons why one might want, or not want, an annulment are varied. Further, the grounds, while seemingly straightforward, are very fact-based and not often as clear under the law as they seem to be upon first reading. As always, it’s important to see a good family lawyer immediately if you think you might want to seek an annulment.

Underage Marriage

If you married at age 16 or older but under 18, then your parent, managing conservator, guardian, or a “next friend” can file for annulment on your behalf. However, this must be done before your 18th birthday, and, if filed by a “next friend,” it must be filed within 90 days of the wedding day.

That said, though, the Court does not have to annul a marriage under these circumstances.

Marriage Under the Influence

Have you seen The Hangover? In that movie, one of the characters was a little whacked out on roofies and alcohol and he married a total stranger at a Vegas chapel. He definitely had grounds for an annulment, and so would you if you got married while too drunk or too high to the point that you did not have the mental capacity to consent to the marriage. However, if you voluntarily moved in with your unplanned marriage partner since the wedding, you’ll need a divorce.

An Impotent Marriage Partner

If either party–yes, even women–have a physical or mental condition that prevents the happy couple from ever consummating the marriage (in other words, permanent impotency), then they can have an annulment. There are two caveats to this: 1) the other partner could not have known of the condition at the time of the marriage, and 2) the other partner cannot have voluntarily lived with the impotent party once the condition was revealed.

Marriage While Mentally Incapacitated

This follows along with rules of getting married under the influence. If you are the one with the mental incapacity, such as if you are mentally ill, you can annul the marriage if your incapacity included a lack of the ability to consent to the marriage or to understand what marriage is. If you were able to recover any capacity to realize what you did, you must move out immediately to get an annulment.

The same is true for the other party, meaning if it’s your spouse who is mentally incapacitated and you were not aware that he or she was so, you can request an annulment. Of course, you have to move out as soon as you find out that the spouse did not understand what they were doing at the time of marriage.

Marriage Too Soon After Divorce

You legally cannot get married in Texas within 30 days of your divorce. So if your spouse married you within 30 days of their divorce and you didn’t know about it AND you moved out as soon as you knew, then you can get an annulment…only if you learn all this before your first wedding anniversary.

Marriage Too Soon after Obtaining Marriage License

Here’s another Texas rule about getting married: you can’t get married within 72 hours of getting a marriage license. Again, if you find out that your spouse did so after the fact, you can request an annulment within 30 days of the marriage.

If you don’t meet any of these situations, you’ll have to opt for a divorce. Fortunately, we know a few attorneys who can help with that.

Filed Under: Annulment, Divorce

Child Kidnapped in Custody Case Returned to Her Father

January 10, 2012 By Duane L. Coker Leave a Comment

One of the biggest fears divorcing parents face is the possibility of the ex-spouse kidnapping their children. An even bigger fear is that the children will be taken to a foreign country where it is not only more difficult to forcibly get your children back, but also more expensive.

For a Wisconsin man, that is exactly what happened four years ago after he filed for divorce. His wife took their young daughter to Japan and ignored all court orders that she return their daughter to the states. As you can imagine, the father was awarded custody over here, but he had another legal battle to fight—one that would force Japan to force his ex-wife to return their daughter.

He had to hire a Japanese attorney and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in the end, it all paid off as 9-year-old Karina returned to the US this past December right before Christmas.

What’s perhaps the most tragic about this ordeal is that it is believed this is the FIRST case where a child kidnapped to Japan during a custody battle has been returned via legal intervention. In this case, the struggle would have most likely continued for even longer if the ex-wife hadn’t returned to Hawaii to renew her US residency. When she arrived, she was arrested due to a warrant from Wisconsin. There are advocacy groups who are trying to increase the legal return rate of internationally kidnapped children, but they know that most people cannot afford the legal expenses required to do so. These groups hope that this case will make it easier for parents in similar situations to have their children returned, but they know it will not “open the floodgates” any time soon.

Filed Under: Child Custody