Paternity Fraud Didn't Pay In Tennessee
From Insurance Journal:
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a man who was misled into thinking he was a father and ordered the child's mother to reimburse him more than $25,000 for child support, medical expenses and insurance premiums he had paid.In a unanimous ruling, the court said Tennessee law allows a former spouse to pursue a fraud claim against a mother who intentionally misrepresented the identity of a child's biological father.
...The decision overturned an appellate court decision that had said state law didn't allow Craig to collect damages equal to support he had paid for the child.
Men are denied the most basic rights in these cases. It's time this changes in every state.
via ifeminists
Undoubtedly some (militant feminists certainly) will argue that he should have ordered the testing done to determine that he was the father, and since he didn't: tough cookies.
I don't agree with that. She is guilty of fraud. Not compelling her to pay restitution basically says that fraud is fine if you can get away with it.
Patrick at October 9, 2012 2:04 AM
To the feminist extremists, any crime is fine if you're the right sex. Up to & including blowing hubby away with a shotgun while he sleeps.
dee nile at October 9, 2012 4:47 AM
This is so different than what courts in NJ have ruled. Here,courts have decided that a man must still pay child support even after determining the child is not his.
BobN at October 9, 2012 7:20 AM
Good for him.
When I was growing up, my grandmothers next door neighbor had a child. She repeatedly told me any time I'd visit that the man she claimed was the father, was indeed not, and he was on the hook for child support. Granted, this was in the days before mandatory paternity testing and God knows what else was going on, but it's theft, was theft, just like the woman in the article. Score one for feminists
( not!)
This is a long overdue step in the right direction.
jandy at October 9, 2012 8:14 AM
A friend from California had a similar incident, where he discovered the daughter he had been supporting for the past several years wasn't his. The courts wouldn't do anything though, because they felt it would be detrimental to the well being of the child.
Similarly, another friend from here in WA is regularly denied his visitation because the ex insists it's her year for that holiday, or changes the dates, etc. If he slips out of compliance, the state would be on his ass, but they won't do anything to her because it would be considered detrimental to the well-being of the child.
Meloni at October 9, 2012 10:45 AM
Meloni: "If he slips out of compliance, the state would be on his ass, but they won't do anything to her because it would be considered detrimental to the well-being of the child."
Yes, this. I watched as two (former) friends went through a very nasty divorce. The child was used much worse than a pawn in a chess game. Most of the time it was the mother playing games, such as taking the child out of town on a weekend when the child was supposed to visting with her father. The mother showing up late, or early, when she did show up for visitations, just a way at getting a "dig" into the father.
The father toed the line on everything because, as you say, his lawyer told him that the court would eat him alive if he didn't.
Yet, when the father tried to get a family judge to consider doing something about these missing visits the court was silent, very silent.
Sadly, the child started having bed-wetting problems when she was in the first grade. Even childless me could see that as a cry for help.
Charles at October 9, 2012 1:11 PM
I really hope this is a harbinger of the future. Not only should she be made to pay restitution, she should be convicted of fraud and given one of those pretty ankle bracelets for a few years.
Daghain at October 9, 2012 9:13 PM
This is indeed a harbinger of the future. There are now seven states that allow presumptive fathers (who are later ruled out as the biological father) to sue for paternity fraud. In fact, there is a paternity fraud case scheduled to be heard in Grundy Center, Iowa early next year.
In addition to exacting justice for the presumptive father - we need to start demanding justice for the child. Mother's who commit this crime steal their child's paternal biological identify. With all of the rapid advances made in the field of genetics, it is inarguable that children, for medical reasons, need to know their COMPLETE AND ACCURATE biological identity. Stealing a child's paternal identity not only harms that child - but that child's offspring.
We need to start holding these mother's legally accountable for the complete spectrum of the crime they commit.
vmb at October 30, 2012 1:44 PM
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