In Louisiana, if the father fails to pay child support, what can happen to him. What kind of support will he be responsible for? Does he have rights if I put his name on the birth certificate or does it make a difference. I'm waiting to hear back from a lawyer but figured FreeLawAnswer.com may know something.
Answer:
While a birth certificate used to mean a lot it is actually meaningless in today's legal system. In older times a birth certificate legally named the biological parents of a child an recorded it so should there be issues in the marriage the paternity of the child was not at question. With the introduction of modern technology we can use DNA testing to prove paternity making the birth certificate irrelevant. If he can prove he is the father he has full parental rights unless you get a court order stating otherwise. If you refuse the test he can get his own court order forcing the tests to be done. Alternatively, if you don't put his name on the birth certificate, he can claim he's not the father then it's up to you to prove he is if you want any support.
As to what kind of support he is responsible for. This is an issue decided by the court. Basically, he is only required to pay a portion (in theory 50%) of the living costs needed to raise your child/children. While it would be a good gesture on his part, he's probably wouldn't be required to pay for dance lessons, private schooling, special programs, etc. He is responsible to assist with cost to maintain housing, food, clothing, and other necessities. Child support is not designed to benefit you as the mother. If you make highly impulsive and costly purchases he can claim your misusing the child support and not only try to get the courts to lower his payment but also to get some of the money he's already paid back.
Your best bet is to play nice. Put his name on the birth certificate, since it doesn't matter anyway, then you've made a good faith gesture to show that this person is the father. Then determine what a reasonable amount would be for child support and ask for it.
Remember, if your reasonable, you're more likely to get what you want. If you're unreasonable you may lose more than child support, you may lose your child if he fights for custody.
If his name is on the birth certificate then he has full parental rights, including visitation. if his name is not on the birth certificate then you can not pursue him for child support. if he does not pay you may file a complaint with the states child support enforcement division and they will pursue him for the owed back child support. in all states failure to pay child support is a felony once you reach a certain time duration or dollar amount. in some states you can get as much as 10 years in prison for failure to pay.
Whether or not his name is on the birth certificate it does not matter. You will have to take him to court to get any child support, You better be positive that the child is his, because he can demand a DNA test to prove this, if it is not he can sue you. If the child is his, and the court awards you child support, they will probably also award him visitation rights.
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