How do you get your biological dad to pay child support?

[manga_master101]

I'm about to be 21 and my dad has never bothered to meet me or pay child support. My dad and my mother were never married either. I just recently met my father on Facebook and he blocked me soon afterwards. It was painfully clear that he didn't want a relationship with his son after that meeting. So now that I know what kind of man he is I just want him to pay his just dues for bringing me into this world and just leaving like that. I know he has a job, but i'm not sure if me being over 18 or the fact that my parents were married have anything to do with it. I could really use the help to support myself in college, but I need to know the steps on how to get this done.
He lives in Oklahoma. I live in Texas. Another man who my mom thought was my father at the time is on my birth certificate. However, she KNOWS it is him. Since we did a paternal test with him when I was a baby. My mother wasn't even out of her teens when she had me. It's understandable she didn't pursue him. She most likely didn't know how. It's not that I'm afraid to speak with him. I tried the best that I could. I have no money to speak of to get me to his house and knock on his door. I respectfully ask that you don't answer unless you know the answer to what i'm asking.

[Pearl L]

talk to a lawyer about it

[Friendlylaborer686]

Now that you are over the age of 18 he has no legal obligation to you, and if your name wasn't on the birth certificate he had no legal obligation to you at all. I don't know if he name was on your birth certificate or not, but if it was I don't see why your mother didn't go after him in the first place. Here where I'd live they'd take things away from him like his driver's license and stuff like that until he started paying. I don't think that he has any legal obligation to even pay back child support now that you're past the age of 18. You might want to check with your state though, different states vary. Good luck, but I think this is a no win situation for you, unfortunately.

I live in Oklahoma as well and since his name isn't on the birth certificate he has no legal obligation to you, this is why your mother didn't go after him for child support. She had no leg to stand on. And when you say that you ask that we don't answer unless we know the answer to what you are asking, I'm not sure who you are referring to but some of the rest of your answer was directed at me so I'm assuming you were talking to me. I do know the answer because my ex-husband refused to pay child support on our kids, however HE WAS on the their birth certificate so he had to pay child support as well as back child support. BTW I wasn't out of my teens either when I had my kids. If you don't believe me you can figure it up I was born July 15th 1977, son was born April 29th 1994 daughter was born April 7th 1995.

[Rain]

It can depend on where you live, but I don't think he's obliged to pay child support now that you're over 18. You could ask him for some sort of compensation for leaving you and your mother, but he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. He's made pretty clear he doesn't want anything to do with you, possibly because of money, and unless you have the guts to talk to him face-to-face, you should just move on.

[narrowsheet897]

In Texas, the Child Support Division cannot open a case for you if you are over 18. You may be able to get a child support order through a private attorney, but they can be expensive.


For the record, it doesn't matter if your biological father was on your birth certificate or not, the document he needed to sign was an Affidavit of Paternity. If the man on your birth certificate also signed one of these forms, then he is your legal father and your biological father does not have an obligation to you. However, if the man on your birth certificate did not sign this Affidavit, and your biological parents were married within 300 days of your birth, then your bio-dad is your legal father and he did have an obligation to you until you turned 18.

In short... It may be too late for you to collect child support, but if you have younger siblings who were born while your biological parents were married, then they may still be able to collect.

[loralaey]

If he never pay child support before, what makes you think he will now? Let it go, stop whining, get a job and learn to support yourself. Besides by the way you express yourself, you can't afford a lawyer, and your dad don't want anything to do with you.
Just remember when you become a father not to make the same mistake.