Victims of paternity fraud include non-biological fathers, biological fathers, families of two men, and, of course, the innocent child at the center of it all. This emotional stress is made worse by the fact that the non-biological father may have been paying child support for years. When a paternity test reveals the truth, it is seldom a simple case of the non-biological father getting compensated for those costs.

Why it important to establish paternity is because it gives a child rights to the father’s:

• Social Security benefits in the case of the parent’s death or disability
• The inheritance of the parent
• If applicable the veteran’s benefits
• And the benefits of the parent’s health and life insurance

Paternity fraud happens when a man is falsely recognized as the biological father of a child; it is also referred to as misattributed paternity or paternal discrepancy.

Sometimes the mother who misidentified the father knows that the man is not biologically related to the child, and sometimes she only suspects that her child is not biologically related to the man she named on the birth certificate.

There are times when a married couple has a child, the husband is considered the presumptive father, and when the husband signs the birth certificate at the hospital, he establishes his paternity for that child, whether or not he is the biological father.

If a single mother has a child, she can ask a man to sign the birth certificate or affidavit of paternity even if he is not the biological father. And in other cases, the unmarried mother may need to apply for state aid requiring her to list the child’s father. No proof is needed that the listed father is the biological parent so that means that she could potentially name anyone as the father.

Then there’s the process called “the presumption of paternity” that takes place in some states, where a man is declared by the state to be the biological father because he was married to the mother at the time of conception or birth of the child. This law that exists in some states requires a man to pay child support even long after paternity fraud has been revealed.

When paternity fraud has led to child support payments, it is up to the court must assess whether such payments should be continued. Although the apparent response may appear to be ‘no’ the court must determine what is the best for the child. Paternity fraud is not seen as a criminal offense, and so there are no repercussions for mothers who commit the act.

References:

• https://www.verywellfamily.com/help-for-victims-of-paternity-fraud-2997823
• https://www.masters-lawgroup.com/news/what-is-paternity-fraud-and-should-i-be-concerned/