Hello everyone!
Fourteen years ago I had a brief affair with a married woman. I newly discovered that I am the father of her the only son who was born thirteen years ago/ don't ask me how/. She is still married to her husband.He was mislead to think that he was the father and he is listed as my son's father in his birth certificate.I am thankful to him for all his care . Now I want to be my son's legal father,to change his last name to mine and to have custody rights.Also I am willing to pay back child support.
I tried to talk to them but the husband said he was distressed about the news, and he would feel humiliated himself if he had to explain all to his relatives and friends.He doesn't want to cooperate.He doesn't want to understand that he is a step father only and he can get about $ 80,000 as back child support.
I need your advice where to start my action.I am in Tennessee.
Thank you!

GV70

Synopsis of In re T.K.Y./SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE/

Mr. and Mrs. Y.1 have been
married since 1988. In November 1996, Mrs. Y. began an extra-marital affair with Mr. P. In January 1997, Mrs. Y. discovered that she was pregnant.

....

The/Juvenile/ court then conducted a best-interests analysis and found that termination was in the best interests of T.K.Y. because the child was “in a safe environment and safe home,” and because Mr.Y. had “established a meaningful relationship” with the child and was able to provide financially for the child. Finally, the juvenile court noted that Mr. Y. “has demonstrated a stability and a perseverance that the Court feels is highly commendable and will have a long-term positive impact on [T.K.Y.].”
....

Seventeen months after the juvenile court decision, on September 2, 2003, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. In re T.K.Y., No. M2002-00815-COA-R3-JV, 2002 WL 1733583(Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 2, 2003). The Court of Appeals reasoned that in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jones v. Garrett, 92 S.W.3d 835 (Tenn. 2002), the juvenile court had erred in terminating Mr. P.’s parental rights without first adjudicating his parentage petition.


.....
On remand, in April 2004, seven months after the Court of Appeals reversed, the juvenile court held a trial to determine Mr. P.’s parentage action. Mr. and Mrs. Y. contested the petition.Although they acknowledged that Mr. P. was the biological father, they argued that because Mr. Y.was married to Mrs. Y. and held T.K.Y. out to the world as his natural child, he had an equivalent claim to fatherhood. Following the April 2004 trial, the juvenile court ruled that Mr. P. was the “legal father” of T.K.Y.Mr. and Mrs. Y. again appealed. On February 10, 2005, the Court of Appeals reversed the Juvenile court’s determination that Mr. P. was the child’s legal father.Court of Appeals reasoned that both Mr. Y.and Mr. P. were “armed with a rebuttable statutory presumption of parentage.” Mr. Y. was married to Mrs. Y., the mother at the time the child was born, and he has received T.K.Y. into his home and held the child out to the world as his natural child. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-2-304(a)(1), (4). Mr.P., on the other hand, had been shown through genetic testing to be the child’s father to a 99.95% probability. See id. § -304(a)(5). According equal weight to the presumptions, the Court of Appeals resolved the dispute in favor of Mr. Y. by balancing the stability of T.K.Y.’s family environment,the strength of his relationship with Mr. Y., and the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Y. have been his sole source of financial support against Mr. P.’s lack of relationship with the child and his lack of actual support of the child.
......Supreme Court Analysis
B. Determining the “Legal Father”
Next, we consider the question of who is T.K.Y.’s legal father. Unlike the parentage statute,the adoption and termination statutes are not concerned solely with identifying a child’s biological father. Rather, the statutes provide a framework for determining the legal father of a child. A legal father’s rights may only be terminated pursuant to statutory procedures. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113 (2005)
The legal father may or may not be the biological father of a child. The adoption and termination statutes contain these definitions:
“Biological parents” means the woman and man who physically or genetically conceived the child who is the subject of the adoption or termination proceedings . . . .
Conclusion

Mr. P. is undisputedly the biological father of T.K.Y. Having so held, the juvenile court was required by the statutory scheme to declare him the legal father as well. Mr. P. is T.K.Y.’s legal father...

JudyKayTee

Good legal advice so I'll skip that - have you done DNA testing? Are you prepared to prove you are the biological father? I'm confused by the affair 14 years ago and the son 13 years ago "don't ask me how" comment. Don't the dates line up?

(As far as the "stepfather" not understanding he can get about $80,000 as back child support - I guess he's not willing to sell someone he has treated as his son for $80,000.)

So go to Family Court and start your action -

ScottGem

Thanks GV. So TN laws are more favorable to the bio father! What if the mother lives in another state? Especially if she lived there at the time of conception and birth? Would the l;aws of that state apply or would the laws of the bio father's state apply?

According to what you researched (great job btw), the OP would have a case. Even though this is the law board, what about the best interest of the child in this situation? My vote is that it would not be in the best interests of the child to pursue a change in parentage.

GV70

Repost:
Scott, the paternity questions incl. biofathers v. marital/acknowledged,adjudicated and etc./ fathers are solved in three ways and all depend on the states law.In Alabama,California,Florida,Georgia,Iowa,Michigan,O klahoma,Pennsylvania,Texas,Kentucky
and Wisconsin it is impossible to the biofather to assert his rights if a child was born
and live in intact family and the mother and the marital /acknowledged/father resist to his claims.Other states adopted UPA/ the Uniform Parentage Act/ with some differences.The UPA allows biofathers to assert their rights but there is statutes of limitation - usually from 1 to 5 years after child was born.It has cognisize in Arkansas,Colorado,Illinois,Minnesota,New Jersey,New York,Washington , Massachusets, and etc.and some of these states have to weight presumptions where two competing / marital and biological / fathers are and the best interest of child controls these presumptions.

The third part of states are adopted the biological imperative.If the biological father is
proven he stays as a biological and also as a legal father without matter when,where and
why he asserted his rights and without the marital status of the mother also without to
allow the husband to have an opportunity to defend the marital presumption.These states
are Connecticut,Indiana,Maine,Mississippi,Ohio,Tenness ee.In these states the biological father can assert his right at any time.

wow-you can give me 'GREEN'

In Connecticut,Indiana,Maine,Mississippi,Ohio,Tenness ee the best interest of the child is irrelevant to paternity disputes./The Mississippi Supreme Court determined in May 2006 that a court can not consider a child's best interests when a father requests a DNA paternity test./

froggy7

Wouldn't this part stop the bio-dad's petition? Although it does seem to conflict with the other part you had below.

GV70

No.
They had to do it till child's first birthday.BTW the goal of 36-2-304(2) is to preserve the families from false claims.

GV70

36-2-304.(2) (A) If the mother was legally married and living with her husband at the time of conception and has remained together with that husband through the date a petition to establish parentage is filed and both the mother and the mother's husband file a sworn answer stating that the husband is the father of the child, any action seeking to establish parentage must be brought within twelve (12) months of the birth of the child. In the event that an action is dismissed based upon the filing of such a sworn answer, the husband and wife who filed such sworn answer shall be estopped to deny paternity in any future action.


In the event that an action is dismissed-...and what about if an action IS NOT dismissed...Can you guess what will happen to the mother after that?

JohnJohns

Wrong! I have two children- a daughter /18/ and a son /16/. They are trilled to meet their brother.
I had an appointment with an attorney. I was told I had all rights as GV70 stated his case.

JudyKayTee

Please come back and let us know how it works out.

ScottGem

Ok, then I don't understand why you care so little about this other child. While GV is right about TN law, does the other family live in TN too? I hope not, because I think TN law is not family friendly in this case.