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  • Pat test

    Hopefully someone can give me some insite into my situation.

    I am a Man who served (with a conference brief) my ex, and her lawyer sent Case conference brief with an answer form. Here's the thing I want to withdraw my petition because I beleive the child I made the claim for is not mine, I'm 99.9% sure. How to I go about this? I know there's a Notice of withdraw legal form but what else do I need to do to get through this process.

  • #2
    Okay, here are some questions:

    1) How old is the child?
    2) How long have you been living with the child and mother?
    3) When did you find out you weren't the child's father, and what is the story behind it?
    4) Does the mother have a job?

    Depending on how you answer these questions, it doesn't really matter if the child is yours or not. If it can be proven that you have been taking care of the child, like it is your own, for long enough, then she and her lawyer may have you by the balls. Where is the biological dad, and does he know about the child yet? Who was listed on the birth certificate as the father?

    Comment


    • #3
      This is a good explanation of how Child Support is determined in the case of a non-biological parent acting in place of a parent. There are many cases like this. However, is is, in my opinion, vital that you get a court order to have a DNA test done if you feel that you acted very little as a parent, IE attend school functions, took child(ren) to medical dental appointments, signed permission forms, etc. Some times you may be married to or living with someone who has children for a period of time, the children never refer to you as their dad, or step dad, and you never take them to appointments, or sign permission slips or report cards, etc, in this case I would show this to the court to demonstrate the lack of parenting, to hopefully distinguish you from a person "in the place of a parent" or "loco parentis"

      Section 5 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines provides as follows:

      Spouse in place of parent


      (5) where the spouse against whom a child support order is sought stands in the place of a parent for a child, the amount of the child support order is, in respect of that spouse, such amount as the court considers appropriate, having regard to these Guidelines and any other parents’ legal duty to support the child.
      [15] In other words, the support obligations of a stepparent are determined by reference to, but not exclusively by, the Guidelines.
      Child Support Obligations of a Person Standing in Place of a Parent - Mancuso
      [16] In the case of Mancuso v. Weinrath, [2005] B.C.J. No. 2509, 2005 B.C.S.C. 1606, Groves J., reviewed the case law and concluded that there were four primary approaches to this issue:

      1. The non-mathematical approach: this method does not use any particular mathematical equation or calculation to determine the stepparents’ liability. Instead, this approach weighs all factors in the case to determine the extent to which the award should fall below the amount prescribed by the Guidelines, if at all. Groves J. concluded that this method was the one most frequently applied in British Columbia at the time of his decision.

      2. Subtraction: this method simply involves subtracting the payments made by the non-custodial biological parent from the full amount the stepparent would be obliged to pay under the Guidelines.

      3 Cumulative: under this approach the court makes no deduction from the full amount the stepparent would be obliged to pay under the Guidelines in spite of the fact that a biological parent may also be paying support. This method is rarely used in British Columbia.

      4. Apportionment based on a fair standard of support: this approach requires the court to determine the stepparents’ liability for child support based on the amount of money that is required to maintain “fair standard of support” for the child and apportions the responsibility for meeting that standard between the parents. Groves J. noted that the court had indicated three different methods by which to arrive at a “fair standard of support”:

      a) Firstly, the fair standard of support may be either the table amount for the combined incomes of the separated parties prior to separation, or the combined table amounts for those incomes;

      b) It may be arrived at by multiplying the stepparents’ table amount by two.

      c) It may be determined based on evidence regarding the specific expenses the custodial parent incurs to support the child. Groves J. said, additionally, that a fourth method might be worth considering, namely, that it may be appropriate in certain cases to combine the pre or post separation incomes of the biological parents and the stepparent and determine the table amount for that income.

      [17] Having determined the “fair standard of support” the court then apportions the obligation for support between the parents using, perhaps, one of the following methods:

      a) Top-up: under this method, the court must first determine the shortfall if any, between the fair standard of support and the ability of the biological parents to meet it.

      b) Assign liability to the stepparent for the short fall to the extent that it is lesser than or equal to his or her table amount.

      c) Means based proportionality: under this method, once the court has determined the fair standard of support, it apportions the obligation between parents in apportion to their ability to pay.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Heart-broken dad
        Okay, here are some questions:

        1) How old is the child?
        2) How long have you been living with the child and mother?
        3) When did you find out you weren't the child's father, and what is the story behind it?
        4) Does the mother have a job?

        Depending on how you answer these questions, it doesn't really matter if the child is yours or not. If it can be proven that you have been taking care of the child, like it is your own, for long enough, then she and her lawyer may have you by the balls. Where is the biological dad, and does he know about the child yet? Who was listed on the birth certificate as the father?
        -The children are 8 and 4 (What a Pat test for)
        - For 6 years, child was 2 1/2 at the time we met
        - I found out about not being the father within the last month. I have no idea where the father is or who he is. The mother says she doesn't know the name of the father.
        -Her own company, which is owned by her and her mother. I think it's under her mothers name though.

        - She claims he took off after she told him. In regards to the birth certificate (it's my name that's on it) because I thought at the time it was my daughter.

        Comment


        • #5
          I highly suspect that there really is no other man.
          Who forgets the name of a man you lived with and slept with?
          If he left “after” she told him about the child, he lived with her for a while, and if it is true she knows the name but is choosing not to tell you. This could be because he does not earn as much as you and she feels she would do better to seek support from you then him.
          Given his disappearing act he may not be easily ordered to pay, he may be a dead beat dad in the making.

          It seems from your post you will probably be responsible for both given the young ages and the fact that you were in place of a parent for the majority of their lives. They know no other parent but you.

          I would still seek to have the test and bio dad pay as well, if you are not the bio it may reduce your obligation in the end.

          Best of luck to you,
          FL

          Comment


          • #6
            Ok

            I want to thank you for your response.

            I have one more question what makes a man a dead beat dad?

            Comment


            • #7
              Among other things it's an individual that has children that he intentionally averts responsibility for.
              Not because he cannot afford to support them or attend access visits, but the individuals that choose not to be apart of the lives that they created, and also refuse to support them.

              Of course there are dead beat moms as well, but that hasn't become socially acceptable yet, so that label has yet to be affixed to a mother that also partakes in this type of behaviour.
              A person unable to afford financially for their children are not dead beats, they are only unfortunate. And those that have been denied access regardless of their efforts, they too are not dead beats but rather victims of the system.

              Comment


              • #8
                Would you recommend Mediation instead of court in my case and what are the benefits of Mediation.

                Comment


                • #9
                  http://www.mediate.ca/familymetidationdiff.htm

                  From your first post it appears that you are the moving party, IE you started the process.
                  I understand that the child of 8 is not yours, and the second child of 4, you believed to be yours until very recently.

                  Since you began the process, and it appears that she is not forcing your hand on anything I think that mediation would be a great place to start.
                  It gives you both the opportunity to present how you’d like things to proceed. It is relatively informal, and if you can come to an agreement it can be put into an order, and you’ve not only saved yourself a lot of emotional hardship and time but money as well.

                  Good luck, and remember there is a wealth of info on this site, if you’d like answers on how to proceed etc through mediation, there are a lot of people here that would be happy to share their experiences with you.

                  FL
                  See above link for info on why mediation is an advantage over court proceedings, etc.

                  Comment

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