Sunday, February 19, 2006

Springfield man paying child support for child who isn't even his


Sarah Overstreet is the type of columnist I wish we would have in our Joplin-area newspapers. Her columns tackle issues of local concern and she writes about local people who do not have the same last name she has.
The Springfield News-Leader columnist's latest is a gem about a man caught in a bureaucratic nightmare: He is being forced to pay child support, including the garnishing of his wages, for a child who isn't his. He has the DNA test to prove it. Government officials tell him they will do something about it if he fills out papers to terminate his legal parenthood and has them served on the mother...only he does not know where the mother lives and state officials refuse to tell him.
I would love to see a columnist in the Globe, the Daily, or the Neosho or Carthage papers that would shed light on these kinds of problems. I guarantee you there are many stories, both good and bad, waiting to be told in the Joplin area. Now all we need is someone to tell them.

3 comments:

FLC said...

I have requested a paternity test from Queens Family Court on numerous occassions. I've never even received the courtesy of an answer. This is the first thing that should happen.

Anonymous said...

All the mother has to do is put your name on the Birth Certificate as the father and you are in for the legal ride of your life even if you can prove you are not the father it will take you years to get the issue resolved.

Anonymous said...

8 years ago I could not put my daughters father's name on the birth certificate unless he signed an affidavite stating he was the father. He refused to sign and his name is not on her birth certificate. If you are married at the time of the childs birth though I believe that the father (husband) is placed on the birth certificate unless he or she states that he might not be the father.