Ask Me Help Desk - What happens if the father refuse to take a paternity test and never sign the birth c

I am single parent and I want a paternity test, The father of my child never lay hands on my child and he got nothing to do with her, I've waited to long, I heard he was saying he was not the father of my child, I wanted to know what will happen if he refuse to take a paternity test? And what will happen? Who would have to pay for the test?

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Originally Posted by Flowerdrew

I am single parent and I want a paternity test, The father of my child never lay hands on my child and he got nothing to do with her, I've waited to long, I heard he was saying he was not the father of my child, I wanted to know what will happen if he refuse to take a paternity test? And what will happen? Who would have to pay for the test?

You file in court for child support; list him as the assumed father of the child. The court will order him to submit to DNA testing to prove for once and for all whether he is or is not the child's father.

If he is the father, the cost is typically split between the parents. If he is not the father, you may get stuck with the entire cost of the testing.

And do not contact CPS. They handle child abuse/neglect situations, not paternity testing.

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Originally Posted by donf

I disagree with you.

Failing to care for your child is neglect.

I am basing my answer on family history while we were living in Kentucky.

The way the mother brought the case forward was by going through the County's Child Protective Services office.

They took care of noticing the father and getting the necessary court orders for the paternity testing.

One paternity was established, then they continued the case until a court ordered child support payment was established. Once that was done, the CHPS managed the payment and distribution of payments to the mom.

Now I will concede that there may have section if not all the work may have been done by different departments, the parent department was and is Child Health and Protective Services.

Great. The OP never stated she was in Kentucky.

Not caring for your child is neglect. Failing to pay child support means you're a deadbeat but does not constitute "neglect."

And it's "Child Health and Family Services" not Child Protective Services.
Kentucky: Cabinet for Health and Family Services - Child Support Enforcement

So you're still wrong.

This is a Law board. Our answers cannot be, "Once upon a time where I lived, X happened so there's a maybe chance that what I'm saying is accurate."

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Originally Posted by donf

Wonderful points, however as you note, the poster did not give a location.

As to my answers, either department would be able to point the OP to the correct place.

Which would be the courthouse. As I said earlier.

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Child Support Enforcement does not come into play unless or until there is a significant amount of missed payments.

Nobody brought up child support enforcement. I said to initiate a child support case, the father needs to be legally established as the biological parent.

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You are correct as to the name of the organization, however you seem to be implying that you have to have an attorney initiate the action to you (or I may be erroneously be reading into your responses) and that is not true.

I never said that. Not one time did I say she needed an attorney. If I had, my first response would have been, "You need an attorney."

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So there! We can go back and forth ad nauseum (forgive the spelling) but the purpose of my response was to give the user some possible locations to start at, not quote law.

Also, you do not have to start with a petition in court, you can start somewhere that is equipped to handle these questions rather then just drop anyone into the middle of the court system. Or do you consider the court system to be geared toward helping anyone or just expecting you to know what you are doing before you seek help.

Just out of curiosity and I do not mean to be offensive but do you know who in the civilian community holds the legal system responsible for their debacles? To me, the legal system is policed by lawyers for lawyers and from my skewed viewpoint, the Judicial system is nothing more than glorified lawyers. This is by no means an indictment of the system, I am really curious as where would one go for assistance within the legal system to get help without bouncing into a lawyer.

Yes, she does need to start with the courts. Her ex has not been established as the biological father. Without a court-ordered DNA test, there is nothing binding this man to the child.

And while the legal system is somewhat corrupt but at times, it's a necessary evil. And it has nothing to do with her question. Please try to stay focused and answer with factual, pertinant information - not your assumptions and feelings on what the court system does or doesn't do.