My son is 13. Can I sue his father for back child support? His father signed the birth certificate?

No, he cannot "sue" his father.

As his mother, did you file for child support? Did the father fail to pay it?

You have legal standing to collect child support.

You can't collect from before you filed for it and would be awarded for it... I.E. if you go out NOW, file and get awwarded it this month for the first time... you can't retroactively go back 13 years for all of that too. Only to the point it was originally awarded... a signature on the birth certificate means nothing. He can demand a DNA test to definatively establish paternaty. And if he's smart he would.

A good first question would include is have you gone to court for support, and was it issued?. if it was issued, when?. was there any payments due since then that haven't been made? If there was then yes you can go after those with interest.

Fascinating that once again someone asks a question, I give the legal answer, I am not helpful. By the way, "we" don't even know where this person lives; however, the answer is pretty standard.

Well, now that I'm not helpful anyway - why would you want to alienate your son and his father by having your son sue his father for child support?

If you didn't get a child support order, shame on you. If you did and the father didn't pay, shame on him. If he didn't pay and you did nothing, shame on you.

It's YOUR responsibility to provide for your children. That includes dragging their fathers into Court to force them to financially support the child.

Not alienating your son from his father may also be your job - but that's a moral call, not a legal one.

And, Smoothy, I didn't even bother with the rest of the legal explanation in light of the question.

Oops... bad word choice on my part JudyKayTee... I meant to write "a good first question...would include is".. My apologies . WIll edit it to reflect such. Got to pay closer attention to what I'm writing when I'm distracted with food.

I wasn't criticizing - I just meant that the tone of the question led me to believe that there would be no acceptable answer... so I took the shortcut and posted the short answer.

I'm drinking coffee. I know the feeling!

You can't collect from before you filed for it and would be awarded for it....I.E. if you go out NOW, file and get awwarded it this month for the first time...you can't retroactively go back 13 years for all of that too. Only to the point it was originally awarded...a signature on the birth certificate means nothing.

This is wrong and poor advice. Please be more careful as we pride ourselves on accuracy. Not knowing the State the OP lives in we don't know what is truly possible. Some states do in fact have retroactive support when the father has known of the child and never supported the child. Tennessee has been making the news lately as one of the States that chooses to dig deep when it comes to child support.

This is wrong and poor advice. Please be more careful as we pride ourselves on accuracy. Not knowing the State the OP lives in we dont know what is truely possible. Some states do in fact have retroactive support when the father has known of the child and never supported the child. Tennessee has been making the news lately as one of the States that chooses to dig deep when it comes to child support.I beg to respectfully disagree. It is accurate in most states of the USA based in the information they provided.

If she was awarded support previously... it matters in every one of the states. By those guidelines every other answer provided is just as incorrect.

In Virginia.. for example.. you can't come out of the blue... file for support and immediately expect 13 years of back support. That immediately triggers an arrears, that gets your drivers license suspended... your tax returns garnished, bank accounts etc... being that far in arrears will also trigger an arrest warrant. And yes, Virginia is a state that does jail deadbeat fathers. And yes I know two guys in jail for refusing to pay support for kids that DNA tests have proven aren't theirs (wives had affairs), they have been in jail for 4 years now because they refuse to pay for someone else's child, and oddly enough the state never went after the real fathers. How many men have 13 years worth of support payments sitting in the bank drawing interest?. many have trouble paying that support, AND having enough for a very modest standard of living, I know a few of those too. I can see that Tenn law being taken to the supreme court. Being arrears because you didn't take the steps or avoided to pay is one thing... having someone knocking on your door 13 years later saying you owe them for something now in full you weren't aware of is something that begs for massive litigation.

None of us can guess where she actually resides. In fact... they might not even be in the United States.. they might be in Canada. I doubt anywhere outside of the North American Continent based on the dialect of English used however.

The OP is responsible for providing more info if they expect the best quality answer. They never stated they WERE from Tenn for example... and every bit of what I asked for is also pertinent to the question asked. Because they provided none of it.

I do encourage the OP to come back and do so, since nobody asked them so far.

I beg to respectfully disagree. It is accurate in most states of the USA based in the information they provided.

If she was awarded support previously...it matters in every one of the states. By those guidelines every other answer provided is just as incorrect.

In Virginia..for example..you can't come out of the blue...file for support and immediately expect 13 years of back support. That immediately triggers an arrears, that gets your drivers license suspended...your tax returns garnished, bank accounts etc...being that far in arrears will also trigger an arrest warrant. And yes, Virginia is a state that does jail deadbeat fathers. And yes I know two guys in jail for refusing to pay support for kids that DNA tests have proven aren't theirs (wives had affairs). How many men have 13 years worth of support payments sitting in the bank drawing interest?...many have trouble paying that support, AND having enough for a very modest standard of living, I know a few of those too. I can see that Tenn law being taken to the supreme court. Being arrears because you didn't take the steps or avoided to pay is one thing....having someone knocking on your door 13 years later saying you owe them for something now in full you weren't aware of is something that begs for massive litigation.

None of us can guess where she actually resides. In fact....they might not even be in the United States..they might be in Canada. I doubt anywhere outside of the North American Continent based on the dialect of English used however.

The OP is responsible for providing more info if they expect the best quality answer. They never stated they WERE from Tenn for example....and every bit of what I asked for is also pertinent to the question asked. Because they provided none of it.

I do encourage the OP to come back and do so, since nobody asked them so far.

What your failing to undertand is that as a blanket statement it is false. And that is why you have to be careful when issuing blanket statements in the law board.

Most states have laws on the books regulating it and in a majority of those states it can under certain conditions be retroactive to birth.

Quote:
Generally, courts don't make awards retroactive. However, there are several reasons that may justify retroactive child support, including:

•A non-custodial parent concealed part of their finances or intentionally avoided support
•Delayed final hearing on support
•Where there's a demonstrated need
Retroactive child support is different from child support arrearages.


Ref:
http://family-law.lawyers.com/child-support/Retroactive-Child-Support.html

Ok, the fact is that some states DO permit retroactive support. Yes most states will not award support prior to filing, but enough states do allow retroactive that it is inaccurate to make a blanket statement as was made.

Also, I think Judy misread. The OP didn't ask about the son suing, but whether she could sue.

So, the OP needs to tell us where they live (general area) so we can check the applicable laws and see what she can do. In the meantime she should file immediately to establish a date for the award to start.

Thanks, Scott - I think I did. I would have sworn it asked if the SON could sue for support. I need more (or less) coffee.

I apologize to the OP for the confusion - I still don't know why no one filed before this but maybe that's why I was unhelpful.