Mistaken Paternity in East Texas

Correcting a mistaken paternity.

Mistaken Paternity can be corrected in East Texas, if there was:

·       no DNA test was given to the man; and

·       a man signed a paper admitting he was the father, on the false belief that he was the father of the child; or

·       a man did not argue a court case on the false belief that he was the father of the child; and

·       the man brings the suit within 1 year of the date on which he becomes aware that he was not the child's real father.

Four Questions

A man should ask himself four questions.

Has it been less than a year since you signed a paper admitting you were the father?  (Yes)

Has it been less than a year since a court said you were the father? (Yes)

Was there a DNA test? (No)

Did you sign the paper admitting you were the father, or fail to argue a court case, on the false belief that you were the father? (Yes)

The Law  

Section 161.005, Texas Family Code, allows the man to file a suit asking that child support and medical support orders be ended. The child support will end on the date the Termination Order is signed, but there will be no repayment of child support or medical support already owing. If it seems unfair, just tell that to my client, who brought the lawsuit within 1 year of the passing of the new law and had paid child support for many years. He did not receive a refund of even a dollar. He had regularly paid child support on the 1^st and 15^th of the month for many years, but had to pay the full amount of monthly child support for the last month, because it was all due on the 1^st and the Termination Order was signed on the 12^th.

File a lawsuit, now! 

The moral of this story is plain. If the facts fit, get a lawyer and file a suit as soon as possible. If a paper or a court says you are the father, you may pay $400 a month in child support. In 18 years, that will cost you $86,400.00. If you wait past the 1 year deadline, you will not be able file a lawsuit to correct the mistake.

Mistaken Paternity Trial in Texas

This past November, I went to court in a mistaken paternity case
and learned that my client paid $36,606 in child support through the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General admired him because for years, he regularly paid support. A DNA test showed that my client was not the father. 

He will not be repaid a dime. He gets no apology from the State of Texas. The child support stopped, but he still owes for the rest of November, plus a medical support fee. This is the last unjust punishment of a slave on the child support plantation.

The Attorney General told me 1 out of every 5 men tested through the Attorney General’s office is shown not to be the father. The personal experience of the Judge is that about 1 out of every 3 men is excluded by a DNA test. There may be a million men paying child support, because no DNA test was given before the State of Texas made them pay.

I do not blame the mother, she was only making money: We lawyers, judges, and legislators are the ones who allowed her to make money this way. We are the ones who allowed this evil. It is our embarrassment and shame.

End the slavery, Attorney General, and give the DNA test before you force men to pay.