David Doe v. Linda Doe
Jan 29, 2008OUTCOME: Acknowledgment of Paternity Vacated
After trial, the Court granted David's application that he be relieved of any obligations for child support of the mother's child even after he signed an Acknowledgment of Paternity at the hospital the ... day after the child was born. David stated at that time that he was the father and he waived his right to an immediate paternity test. Approximately 3 years later, we filed a petition in Family Court on behalf of David to have the Acknowledgement vacated since the mother had sexual intercourse with someone other than David within the 2 week period that she became pregnant with the subject child. Since the mother did not admit this to David prior to his signing the acknowledgement forms, we argued that she defrauded him into believing that he was the father of the subject child. During trial, the mother admitted the sexual relations with someone else and she also conceded on cross-examination that David did not actively hold himself out as the father since the child was less than 1 year old. The Court relied on this circumstance. Previous decisions have held that the father was on the hook and deemed the father of the child despite the DNA evidence to the contrary if the father "held himself out as the father". Also, the DNA test done in David's case before the petition was filed was inadmissible since it was not done by a court selected agency. After we proved that David did not represent himself as the father and we showed that the 3 year old did not rely on him for support (financial or emotional), we were able to convince the Court to order a new DNA test. Of course, the DNA test favored David's argument, and the application was granted after the trial/hearing. After the case was over, David received a refund check from the County for the support payments that were garnished from his wages prior to the decision being rendered.
