[GRANDPARENTS]

My son was engaged to a young lady and she became pregnant before they were to get married. They called off the wedding but my son took responsibility as the father of the child. Now almost 2 yrs later he finds out he is not the biological father. She does not want his parents ( us) to be apart of her life. That is all we have known. Can someone expect you to just stop loving a child or being apart of there life. Is there a law that we could still have some visitation since we were lead to believe all this time we were her grandparents and he was her father.

[Fr_Chuck]

When you say he took responsibiity as the father, did he claim paternity though the courts, was he added to the birth certificate, did he adopt the child??

If he has some legal claim to the child, but if he does not, normally no, there will be no law to give him or you any rights

[GRANDPARENTS]

He signed the paternity papers when she was born in the hospital. He was in the process of sueing for visitation. But recently his ex fiancé asked him to take paternity test and when he did it came back he wasn't the father. He is still listed as the father on Birth certificate.

[Synnen]

Your son needs to get a lawyer to figure out whether he is the LEGAL father.

If he is the legal father, he has all rights of obtaining visitation and custody and making decisions regarding the child---and the responsibility of financially supporting her.

If he is NOT the legal father, I'm sorry but you would have no rights to the child.

[ScottGem]

First, ANY question about law NEEDS to include your general locale since laws vary by area.

Your son is currently the legal father by virtue of his signing the acknowledgment of paternity. He will remain the legal father until and unless a challenge is brought by the bio father. Depending on your locale, it may even be too late for such a challenge to be mounted (hence the need for that info).

The paternity test results do not automatically change his status as the legal father. So if he wants to remain as such, he should continue filing for visitation.

[GV70]

First, ANY question about law NEEDS to include your general locale since laws vary by area.

:)

[GRANDPARENTS]

Baby was born in Tennesse but resides in Mississippi. My son lives in Mississippi too.

[GRANDPARENTS]

Ex fiancé does not plan on letting the biological father know he is the father. She has not asked my son to remove his name from birth certificate yet. Which is strange to me. Then she emailed my son stating he can see her any time he wants too. All we want is to continue to be in her life.

[GRANDPARENTS]

One other thing I forgot she did not give baby his last name but did list him as the father and both of them signed a legal document stating this.

[ScottGem]

What EXACTLY did your son sign? What was the document called? Was it signed in TN? Has ANYTHING been done through the courts? If so was a TN court or a MS court? They both live in MS now? For how long?

[GRANDPARENTS]

He signed a document named Voluntary acknowledgement of paternity. Both parents had to sign and it was notarized at the hospital. It was a Tennesse document.

[GV70]

It is not so easy to get a straight answer... It will depend on what kind of actions the mother will take from this point forward.

§ 93-9-28. Procedures for voluntary acknowledgment of paternity.
(2) (a) A signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of:
(I) Sixty (60) days; or
(ii) The date of a judicial proceeding relating to the child, including a proceeding to establish a support order, in which the signatory is a party.
(b) After the expiration of the sixty-day period specified in subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section, a signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be challenged in court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger; the legal responsibilities, including child support obligations, of any signatory arising from the acknowledgment may not be suspended during the pendency of the challenge, except for good cause shown. § 93-9-27. Blood tests; effect of test results; no right to jury trial in paternity proceedings.
(1) If the court finds that the conclusions of all the experts, as disclosed by the evidence based upon the tests, are that the alleged father is not the father of the child, the question of paternity shall be resolved accordingly. If an expert concludes that the blood or other tests show the probability of paternity, that evidence shall be admitted.

The Supreme Court of Mississippi stated in Thoms v Thoms that" The best interest of a child cannot be considered in paternity actions"

Thus if she decides to dispute his paternity he will lose his status as a legal father and you will be unrelated third parties to the child.

[GV70]

Is there a law that we could still have some visitation since we were lead to believe all this time we were her grandparents and he was her father.

Another question is if you remain as child's legal grandparents.Mississippi's grandparent visitation rights law is codified at Miss. Code Ann. § 93-16-1 et. seq.

Miss. Code Ann. § 93-16-3(1) provides that a grandparent may petition to seek visitation rights of a grandchild whenever:
• A court of this state enters a decree awarding custody of a minor child to the parent who is not a child of the grandparent.
• A court of this state terminates the parental rights of the parent, who is a child of the grandparent, to the minor child.
• When parent, who is a child of the grandparent, of a minor child dies.
A grandparent not meeting the requirements above may be granted visitation rights by petition to the court if:
• The grandparent of the child had established a viable relationship with the child and the parent or custodian of the child unreasonably denied the grandparent visitation rights with the child; and
• The visitation rights of the grandparent with the child would be in the best interests of the child.
The Supreme Court of Mississippi held in Zeman v. Stanford that grandparents' visitation rights shall be granted where a viable relationship had been established between the grandparents and the grandchildren, contingent on the visitation rights being in the best interest of the grandchildren. 789 So. 2d 798 (Miss. 2001)
The term "viable relationship" means a relationship in which the grandparents or either of them have voluntarily and in good faith supported the child financially in whole or in part for a period of not less than six months before filing any petition for visitation rights with the child or the grandparents have had frequent visitation including occasional overnight visitation with said child for a period of not less than one year. Woodell v. Parker, 860 So. 2d 781 (Miss. 2003).


The Mississippi Supreme Court has laid out ten factors to be considered by a chancellor in determining grandparent visitation:
1. The amount of disruption that extensive visitation will have on the child's life. This includes disruption of school activities, summer activities, as well as any disruption that might take place between the natural parent and the child as a result of the child being away from home for extensive lengths of time.
2. The suitability of the grandparent's home with respect to the amount of supervision received by the child.
3. The age of the child.
4. The age, physical and mental health of the grandparents.
5. The emotional ties between the grandparents and the grandchild.
6. The moral fitness of the grandparents.
7. The distance of the grandparents' home from the child's home.
8. Any undermining of the parent's general discipline of the child.
9. Employment of the grandparents and the responsibilities associated with that employment.
10. The willingness of the grandparents to accept that the rearing of the child is the responsibility of the parent, and that the parent's manner of child rearing is not to be interfered with by the grandparents.