My boyfriend is disabled and receives SSDI. He has a son who is 10 years old, the mother receives SSI and also gets a SSI check for their son which she draws off her own SSI. He has not seen the child in 5 yrs. Now that we are going through mediation seeking visitation she is trying to discourage him by threatening child support which she has never asked for before. He is willing to pay if he has to. They were never married and paternity has never been established. My question is will they need to do paternity test and will he have to pay child support and if he will owe back support for the years she did not file for support?

... will they need to do paternity test
If he is seeking mediation, the court might possibly assume he is admitting he is the father.


and will he have to pay child support

Probably.


and if he will owe back support for the years she did not file for support?

Probably not. Retroactive CS is not awarded in many places.

If he is seeking mediation, the court might possibly assume he is admitting he is the father.



Probably.



Probably not. Retroactive CS is not awarded in many places.

Im not sure if he will be required to pay child support but when he is declared the legal father and if he is truly on SSD then the child can receive a benefit from it. That may be the offset for what would normally be child support depending on the amount he is making from SSD.

Yes if he has no other income other an SSD, most likely there will be no other child support ordered, or if so, very very minor amount.

This is common threats of a women to try and scare man away from asking for visits.

If he goes to court asking for visitation on the basis of being a father, either it will be taken at his word with the mother's agreement, or she will challenge it and can request a paternity test. Either way, if he prevails in his paternity claim for visitation, it will be established in the court. It is appropriate for him to contribute child support.

Since there has been no child support order in place to date, he probably would not be asked to pay an arrearage, as he didn't violate any orders for support. However, she may very well win support moving forward. This can be a percentage of his disability and/or any other income he receives.

He certainly should contribute something to the support of his child - he's had a free ride all this time. The court normally operates in percentages of income and takes into account the living expenses of the parties. It's hard to make an argument "I can't support my child because I'm on disability" if the mother has been supporting the child on disability all this time.