Los Angeles, CA–“Mothers are being forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to men who paid child support over decades but were wrongly named as fathers….Ken Rodgers obtained orders for the repayment of $60,000 after making child-support contributions for a decade to a woman who refused to send him even a photograph of his alleged child…
“The money is being garnished from mothers’ incomes in the same way that payments are taken from fathers.”
Some good news, particularly given how badly paternity fraud cases usually go. From Child support payments given back to duped ‘dads’ (11/11/08):
Mothers are being forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to men who paid child support over decades but were wrongly named as fathers.
The payouts follow a contentious reform of child-support laws.
In the biggest case, Queensland man Ken Rodgers obtained orders for the repayment of $60,000 after making child-support contributions for a decade to a woman who refused to send him even a photograph of his alleged child.
The Courier-Mail can reveal that 18 men, cleared of fatherhood by DNA testing, have attempted to reclaim funds already paid to the mothers through the Child Support Agency.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show orders for the return of funds totalling $171,567 have been made against mothers.
The money is being garnished from mothers’ incomes in the same way that payments are taken from fathers.
In each case, the men were able to use DNA tests to prove in court they were not the father.
The new law, Section 143 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act, requires the Family Court to consider issuing orders for repayment whenever paternity is successfully challenged. It came into effect on January 1 of last year.
But not every man who successfully disproves paternity is getting his money back, documents show.
Since July 1, 2006 and October 13, 2008, 344 men have obtained orders cancelling Child Support Agency declarations following DNA tests that proved they were not the fathers of the children in question.
The move to make mothers pay has been attacked by women’s groups.
Sole Parents Union president Kathleen Swinbourne said forcing mothers to return child support would hurt the child, both financially and emotionally.
“The money has already been spent on rearing the child,” Ms Swinbourne said.
“If the mother is forced to pay back these funds, it’s hard to imagine the child won’t be disadvantaged.
“Men should raise their doubts about paternity when they are first told they are a father.
“If they raise it later, someone should tell them it’s too late,” she said.
Swinbourne’s “Men should raise their doubts about paternity…” comments translated–men are wrong for trusting and believing their wives.
Read the full article, which also contains some no-so-good news, by clicking here.