Paternity: Am I the Father?
How the Law Works in Maine
CONTENTS
Introduction
Paternity: Am I the Father?
| What is this information and how will it help me? |
This information is for parents who are being pursued by DHHS for payment
of child support. We also have pages on these related topics:
These materials do not cover other areas of family law such as divorce,
visitation, or custody. They do not cover cases where the other parent is
suing you for child support. This information is not a substitute for legal
counsel. If you need to know more about your specific DHHS child support
case or need legal advice in a related family law matter, check the list
of resources below.
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Family Law Resources
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Agency
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Resource
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Department of Health and Human Services
Division of Support Enforcement
11State House Station #11
Whitten Road
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-3110
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Support Enforcement will direct you to the agent assigned to
your case or to someone who can answer your questions.
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Maine Lawyer
Referral Service
124 State St.
Augusta, ME 04330
1-800-860-1460 or 622-1460 (local)
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This service will refer you to a private attorney for a $20 fee. The first
half-hour of advice is free.
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Volunteer Lawyers Project
88 Federal Street
PO Box 547
Portland, ME 04112
1-800-442-4293 or 774-4348 (local)
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This service provides referrals for low income people to Pine
Tree Legal Assistance or to lawyers who volunteer their time for
some types of family law matters.
If they cannot find you a lawyer, they may be able to give you
a self-help guide and provide over-the-phone help or referral
to a Courthouse Assistance Project.
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| What does the law say about a parent’s duty to support? |
State law requires all parents to support their children. It does
not matter if the parents were ever married. If you do not live with
your children, you will probably be required to send regular child support
payments to the parent or third party who is caring for your child. This duty
continues until your children are 18 years old or, if a child is still in
high school, until he is 19. You can also be required to pay health
care costs, including health insurance, and child care costs.
| Why is the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) involved
in child support? |
Federal and state law requires DHHS to collect child support for two groups
of families: those who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) and those who do not receive TANF but who ask DHHS to help collect
the support. DHHS collects child support
for all families unless they are not getting TANF and they take steps
to opt out of the system. When DHHS collects support for TANF families,
it gives part of the support to the family and keeps the rest to reimburse
the State for some or all of the TANF paid. DHHS sends current support
collected for non-TANF families to the family. DHHS can charge you
a $2 per week fee for the collection service.
| Paternity: Am I the Father? |
If you are not the father, then you cannot be required to support
the child. If you were married to the mother when the child was conceived,
if you signed a birth certificate, or if you signed an "acknowledgment
of paternity" form, then you are presumed to be the father. Otherwise,
DHHS or the mother must establish that you are the father.
If the mother
is getting TANF, she must tell the State who she thinks the father is.
If she has named you, DHHS will contact you to find out if you agree that you
are the father. If you agree, DHHS will probably ask you to sign an "acknowledgment
of paternity" form. Before you sign the form, DHHS must tell you
about your choices, and the legal effects of signing the form. Once
you have signed this form, you are responsible for the child's support.
Read more about
acknowledgement of paternity.
You
have the right to take back the acknowledgement within 60 days or by the date
of a hearing to establish support, whichever comes first.
After this, you can only challenge the acknowledgement in court.
Then you carry the burden of proving that you incorrectly acknowledged paternity
due to fraud, duress or material mistake of fact. You are required to pay
support during the time your court challenge is pending. You should
try to get legal help.
| Should I take a paternity test? |
If you have not acknowledged paternity and do not agree
or are not sure that you are the father, you should ask for a paternity test
to find out. DHHS will probably ask you to have your tissue tested in
any event. This is almost always done by brushing a cotton swab on the inner cheek.
If you cannot afford to help pay for the tests, DHHS should
pay the entire cost. If you are determined to be the father, they may
add the cost to your child support debt.
You have the
right to refuse to take a paternity test requested by DHHS. However,
if you refuse, DHHS can go to court and ask the judge to order you to be tested.
If you still refuse testing, the judge can decide that you are the father.
If the test results
read 97% or more, you are among 3% or less of the population that could be
the father. All others in the population are excluded. If DHHS were to take
you to court in this case, the court would presume that you were the father.
You could either agree that you are the father, or you could let DHHS take
you to court where you would have the chance to try to prove that you are
not. You would need to have convincing evidence in order to outweigh
the paternity test results.
If the experts
who look at the test results say that you are probably not the father, then
it is unlikely that DHHS would decide to go to court to try to prove that you
are. In this case, you cannot be asked to pay for the tests.
More
information on genetic testing
| What are the procedures to establish paternity? |
If you have not
acknowledged paternity, DHHS will try to establish paternity. DHHS must
begin this process by hand-delivering you a "Notice of Paternity Proceeding."
The notice includes important information about the claims against you, your
rights, and what you must do to oppose the action.
If you deny that
you are the father, you must file a written denial with DHHS. You must
file it within 20 days after you were served.
NOTE: It is extremely important to file the written denial
before the deadline if you do not believe that you are the father.
If you do not, DHHS can go to court to get a "default judgment"
saying that you are the father. (Although DHHS must mail you a copy
of any request for a "default judgment," the court can refuse to listen
to your arguments at that point, saying you are too late.)
Once DHHS receives
your written denial, you will be scheduled for a paternity test. (This notice
and later notices can be sent to you by mail, rather than being hand-delivered.
In order to be informed about what is happening with your case, you should
notify DHHS of any change of address.) If you fail to show up for the test,
DHHS must notify you by regular mail
that you have the chance to reschedule the test. If you don’t ask for
a new test date before the deadline, or don’t show up again, DHHS will treat
this as a refusal to submit to testing and can take you to court. If you continue
to refuse to be tested, the court can decide that you are the father.
DHHS can require
you to give additional tissue samples if they need them to get more complete
test results. On the other hand, if you contest the results of
the first test and pay for another one in advance, DHHS must set up another
round of testing for you.
If
the test results show that you are likely to be the father, DHHS will ask you
to acknowledge paternity within 15 days after the results of the test have
been mailed to you.
If you still believe
that you are not the father, do not sign the acknowledgement. Get
legal advice.
Next, DHHS can
take you to court by filing "A Record Of A Paternity Proceeding."
DHHS must mail you a notice that it is taking the case to court. You
have 25 days after the notice is mailed to file your defenses in writing
to the court. You also have the right to ask the court, in writing,
for additional testing, by different qualified experts. Again, you will
probably have to pay for extra tests.
If you go to
a court hearing, the judge will decide whether you are the father. If you
are found to be the father, the judge may also make a support order, which
can include back support and medical expenses, plus health coverage for the child.
The court
cannot go back more than 6 years from the time the court action was started.
The court can also order you to pay for the paternity testing and court costs,
including attorney's fees, unless you prove that you cannot afford to pay
those costs.
| When can I raise questions about my paternity? |
If you have concerns
about your paternity, you must raise them during a paternity proceeding with
DHHS. If you have concerns about your paternity after you have started
paying support, get legal advice. You may be able to start a court action
to prove you are or are not the father.
Remember: If you
do not respond at all to DHHS' attempts to establish paternity, DHHS may
go to court and you can lose your right to argue that you are not the
father.
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Notice
© Pine Tree
Legal Assistance
August 2005
Sometimes the laws
change. We cannot promise that this information is always
up-to-date and correct. If the date above is not this year,
call us to see if there is an update.
We provide this
information as a public service. It is not legal advice.
By sending you this information, we are not acting as your lawyer.
Always consult a lawyer, if you can, before taking legal action.
Please review our full terms-of-use agreement
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