I had to file for a custody of my daughter in Louisiana in 2005. We went to court, and I was awarded biological father, given joint custody, visitation and pay child support. My daughter was over 2 years old when I filed. The mother had married a guy in the military for reason of the military benefits when she was pregnant by me. Only after she was going through the divorce she contacted me to tell me she never lost the baby and that I had a daughter. She admitted that she had lied to me that she lost the baby in court, and that is the only reason I could be able to receive any custody. After the divorce of her husband, he is still the legal father of my daughter and pays child support too. He has a separate custody order from their divorce. Since then, the mom has moved from Louisiana and now resides in Alabama for over a year. I live in Kentucky, where her and I met. The question is, how do I file in Alabama for a modification of the custody order from Louisiana and to take the legal father rights away. I am not on the birth certificate and would like to be able to do that. I do not believe the legal father will have any problems with doing that, and not paying child support. It will be the mother who wants to keep the legal father on the birth certificate and receive child support. I do have paperwork from Louisiana Vital Records that will take the legal father off the birth certificate, and put the biological father on it. But it takes all three of us to sign it. I believe the UCCJEA law in Alabama will have to take jurisdiction since no ties are in Louisiana, including the legal father.

Let me see if I have this straight. The child was born in LA and in 2005 you filed and were awarded joint custody and visitation. LA declared you the legal father. The child was born after you divorced the mother and after she married someone else so he became the legal father. Were they in LA at the time the court awarded you?

The LA judgment should have severed his legal rights. What court ordered him to pay support?

Frankly, this is a messed up situation that I think you need an attorney to unravel.

I was never married to the mother. She was pregnant by me in Kentucky and decided to tell me she lost the baby, married a guy in the military shortly after and moved to Louisiana where he was stationed. The child was born in Louisiana. The child was born under their marriage, where the husband is considered the father. I was told by the mother she never lost the baby, and I filed in Louisiana shortly thereafter. Louisiana has dual paternity where there can be a legal father and a biological father and both have custody rights, visitation, and pay child support. This was in Vernon Parish, and yes it is a Parish not county. Louisiana was part of the Louisiana Purchase from France and retains it napoleonic code of law where the rest of the United States has the old English law. Since neither him, her or I live in Louisiana, would Alabama change the birth certificate from Louisiana?

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Originally Posted by Knate1981

...Since neither him, her or I live in Louisiana, would Alabama change the birth certificate from Louisiana?

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No. The child was born in Louisiana and Louisiana is always going to be the child's place of birth. Therefore you cannot get an Alabama BC.

But you may be correct about the UCCJEA. If no one still lives in Louisiana, you may be able to get Alabama to rule on custody.

I was wondering if Alabama can change the birth certificate from Louisiana? I would have to go to Louisiana to get it change, and I doubt they will. I still like for Alabama to have jurisdiction to modify the court order for custody and visitation. But, there is the legal father who pays child support and still has custody rights to my daughter who he never sees anymore. If he is taking out of the custody loop, the mother would sign for the birth certificate to have me on it.

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Originally Posted by Knate1981

I was wondering if Alabama can change the birth certificate from Louisiana? ... If he is taking out of the custody loop, the mother would sign for the birth certificate to have me on it.

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No, the BC is only changed when you adopt the child or to correct an error on the BC at the time the BC was issued. That is if the law in Louisiana provides for changing a BC upon adoption (Most if not all states do. But the Alabama courts couldn't order Louisiana to change it.)

I agree that AL probably has jurisdiction here. But my question is when was the child support order for him awarded. If it was awarded AFTER you were given joint custody, especially if it was FILED after. Then he shouldn't have been held for support. And if it was filed after, then it may have been fraud, since once you were awarded joint custody, he should no longer have been considered the legal father.

The child support order for him was done after my court order was done. But, Louisiana has dual paternity where he will still be the legal father and me being the biological father. Will another state see him as the legal father, not pay child support?

That's a good question. Frankly I don't know the answer.Was the child support order done in LA too?

Like I said, I think you need an attorney to unravel this mess.

Everything was done in Louisiana. I don't think attorneys would be able to understand either, maybe a handful but certainly not most.

If the support order was also done in LA, then I would assume its valid under LA's dual paternity. So, if you are successful in getting the jurisdiction moved to AL, then their laws will cover.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

If the support order was also done in LA, then I would assume its valid under LA's dual paternity. So, if you are successful in getting the jurisdiction moved to AL, then their laws will cover.

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That is what I am hoping for. There will be no motivation for the mother to seek out child support and keeping the legal father on the birth certificate wouldn't benefit her. The legal father wants to be off the birth certificate as well, and not pay extra child support of course.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

If the support order was also done in LA, then I would assume its valid under LA's dual paternity. So, if you are successful in getting the jurisdiction moved to AL, then their laws will cover.

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If it were me I wouldn't even go there. It also may be that the second paternity judgement wiped out the first one. Was there mention of it in the decision that was handed down? Also being in the military may also complicate things further. Even though the child was born in La lets not forget that the military allows a person to choose a home state. There may be an entirely different set of laws in effect.

Ref:


4.2.4. Determination of Paternity in Divorce Decree

A determination of paternity included in a divorce decree generally establishes the paternity of a child conclusively. The doctrine of res judicata "prevents a party from suing on a claim which has been previously litigated to a final judgment by that party…and precludes the assertion by such parties of any legal theory, cause of action or defense which could have been asserted in that action." Dixon v. Pouncy, 979 P.2d 520, 523 (Alaska, 1999), quoting 18 James Wm. Moore. Et al. Moore's Federal Practice § 131.10 (3d ed. 1997). Res judicata will prevent the parties from re-litigating the issue of paternity, unless the petitioner can show that the judgment was obtained by fraud.[19]


Link:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/reports/litigation/ch04.html

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

If it were me I wouldnt even go there. It also may be that the second paternity judgement wiped out the first one. Was there mention of it in the decision that was handed down? Also being in the military may also complicate things further. Even though the child was born in La lets not forget that the military allows a person to choose a home state. There may be an entirely different set of laws in effect.

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I was not there for their divorce, but as far as I understand it, the other guy is still considered the legal father since he did not challenge paternity within the first two years of birth. Since the mother did lie to me under deception that the child was not born, I still had my two years to file something in court to establish that I am the biological father when she told me the truth. If I did not file anything within two years of learning the truth I would not have any rights to my daughter, at least in Louisiana. The legal father does want to be off the birth certificate and not pay child support. Will Alabama take away my legal rights if I file there even when I do see my daughter and pay child support? I got my daughter now for the summer.