[mahina79]

2 1/2/ years ago my boyfriend got a text message with a pic saying I just thought you would like to know what your son looks like. He is now 10 years old... We have been to Arksansas to see him and flown him out to see us several times... We send christmas gifts and birthday gifts and money to help with school clothes. All of the sudden because my boyfriend won't move to AR she has completely changed. She says she's going to get a lawyer.. Not sure what she is wanting... So I guess my question is can she get him for back support since we just found out about him and his name is not on the birth cret and not had a DNA test? She hid him from his dad for 7 1/2 years...

[cdad]

Have you been paying child support for the 2 1/2 years that he has known about the child? How did you base the child support amount? Were the payments made in a way they could be tracked like a check?


If none of the above applies then they may be able to ask for arrears. How far back is going to depend on the situation but at a minimum it may go back 2 1/2 years.

[mahina79]

We haven't been sending a certain amount, we just send money as she needs it, and yes we can track it cause we send through our bank. I figured they could go back for the 2 1/2 years, just was not sure because he's not on the birth cert and no DNA test...

[ScottGem]

AR has a 5 yr limit on the amount of retroactive support. But whether to order any retro support is left to the discretion of the court.

Given the circumstances it is unlikely she will get any retro support, Highly unlikely to go beyond when she first informed him of the child.

[Fr_Chuck]

Agree, they may go back the full 5 years or they may just for the 2 1/2 years. Since support will be @ 15 percent of his pay, you can get a very rough estimate of how much behind he may be.