By: Dr. Mike Gora
Q: Surprise, surprise. I am a 40-year-old bachelor, never been married. I was at home, recently, watching a pre-season football game, when the phone rang. It was a 10-year-old girl, who lived in another city in Florida. She said that she found out that I was her father by looking through some old papers of her mother. Her mother had told her that we had never married, and that I had died in a car accident before she was born. She found me by doing a search on her PC.
I asked her mother’s name, realized that her story might be true, and asked to speak to her mother. She refused. I also have a PC, and found that her mother still lived in the town where we had both grown up in North Florida. I easily found her address and phone number. How can I find out if she really is my daughter? What are my legal rights and responsibilities toward her and her mother? How can I invoke those rights, if I want to?
Dr. Mike H. Gora
A: It seems doubtful that the 10-year-old “detective” you describe will not report to her mom. You should consider calling her mother and re-establishing communications. If she denies that you are the father, you can file a paternity suit against the mother to determine the truth, through a DNA test.
If the test proves that you are the father, obligations for past and future child support will have to be addressed. A Florida statute limits your past liability to two years prior to the filing of a claim for child support against you, under most circumstances.
Florida law prohibits either parent from waiving the right to receive child support from the other. Once there is a determination that you are the father, the mother will have a right to seek child support under the statute. If the state of Florida had supplied some support to the mother because of your absence, it might have a claim for reimbursement of that support against you.
There are many other legal rights involved in a determination that you are the father. She will be able to inherit from you, if you have no will, and die owning property. Children, however, can be disinherited.
You will have a right to visitation, and other parental rights, if the court sees fit, or you and mom can agree. Of course, care must be taken for the child’s best interests in establishing some normal contact. It is likely that advice from a therapist would be a good idea. You have your work cut out for you.
Michael H. Gora has been certified by the Board of Specialization of The Florida Bar as a specialist in family and matrimonial law and is a partner with Shapiro Blasi Wasserman & Gora P.A. in Boca Raton.