Posts Tagged ‘Paternity’

In disputes between biological parents and third-parties, we don’t want decisions to be based on “the best interests of the child”

A review of the excellent news reporting from Allyson Bird at the Charleston Post and Courier, regarding the adoption case involving two year-old, Veronica, her prospective adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, and her Cherokee birth father, Dusten Brown, demonstrates a misunderstanding when a “best interests of the child” standard is applicable.  For custody cases [...]

In 3-2 decision, Supreme Court takes narrow view of unwed father’s parental rights

The creation of parental rights and responsibilities for unwed fathers are hardly reciprocal.  The state, the mother, or the child’s guardian can come after an unwed father at any point to seek child support.  Age 17? Sure.  Even after the child is an adult if that child has physical or mental disabilities.  In contrast, an [...]

Seeking paternity testing and joint custody

While nothing in the law prohibits it explicitly, I’ve never understood how attorneys can counsel their male clients to demand DNA paternity testing, especially for a child born in their marriage, while seeking joint custody of that child.  I’ve never done it and I don’t see how one can escape the logical conclusion that in [...]

Treating Unwed Daddies as Wallets

I had lunch yesterday with Charlie F.P. Segars-Andrews, who mentioned she had been contacted to do work with an agency, Responsible Committed Fatherhood Initiative, attempting to assist fathers establish visitation at the same time the Department of Social Services establishes child support.  Given my interest in assisting such fathers obtain court-ordered visitation–my most recent volunteer case [...]

In era of DNA paternity testing, Supreme Court finally (and greatly) weakens presumption of in-wedlock paternity

“The presumption that a child born in wedlock is legitimate, although rebuttable, is one of the strongest known in the law.” Lewter by Epps v. Thompson, 281 S.C. 397, 315 S.E.2d 821, 823 (Ct.App. 1984).  Yet, for as long as I have been practicing family law, I’ve expected the Supreme Court to eventually reduce or eliminate [...]

Should fathers of children born out-of-wedlock have rights and obligations towards those children?

The goal of this blog is not to offend but merely to establish the following three points about the current system in which fathers of illegitimate children can demand visitation and custody rights and have imposed upon them the financial responsibilities of parenthood: 1) The current system is neither “natural” nor “uniform through history” but [...]

South Carolina’s new Responsible Father Registry

Beginning January 1, 2010, South Carolina implemented a Responsible Father Registry.  S.C. Code Ann. § 63-9-820.  This registry is designed to allow men who have potentially fathered a child to register as the child’s possible father.  The purpose of the registry is to simplify notice requirements for termination of parental rights and adoptions proceedings. With [...]

What’s a father?

A lecture/article topic idea I have often considered but never been able to completely get a fixed idea on is the notion of “What’s a father?” The lead article in last Sunday’s New York Times magazine section, Who Knew I Was Not the Father?, highlights the confusion and resulting injustices.  When women falsely lead men to believe they [...]