What happens to an illegitimate child when the parents get a divorce?

Question

my cousin was married for a year to a girl who claimed she was bearing his child. shortly after the child was born a paternity test proved that the child in question was in fact not his. despite the child not being his own he still went through with marrying her for the sake of the baby and their relationship... the two were unable to work things out. i feel like the child not being his as it turned out might have contributed to them deciding to divorce. since the child is definitely not his and he will no longer be married to the mother i was just wondering what would happen to the child? does he still have a chance at some custody? or visitations.. i know that kind of depends on the mothers decision to whether or not she allows him to see the child but i want to know if legally he will be responsible for the illegitimate child even though he is not the biological father but the technical father on paper.

Answer 1

Since he is not the bio dad nor adoptive, he has no claim to the child from a court standpoint.  The courts will not order him to pay support on this child since paternity has been established.  So the person that seems to think is he is "on the hook under 18" is incorrect.

Answer 2

Do you know if he signed the birth certificate? That may might be a determining factor whether or not he pays child support.

If he wants to be in the child's life, he really needs to fight for him/her.

So, it's a tricky situation all around.

Answer 3

In the courts a father is defined by their actions not their relationship with the child. This being so he stands a much better chance of staying in contact of the child and can still apply for joint costody and will have the rights of a father.

Answer 4

I am not a lawyer, but this is what I think.  That is such a tangly situation and it may depend very much on where they all live and possibly even on how old the child is now.  Laws differ, and the child has rights, as may your brother in this situaiton.  For example, is your brother named as the father on the child's birth certificate?  Did your brother consider the child his, and does the child consider your brother his dad?  If he is as you say the "technical" father on paper, then he IS the father.  Being a dad is an act of love, not an act of nature.  

But your brother really does need to seek legal advice, because there are so many factors involved here.  For example, if he wants to have rights of visitation, in some places he can lose those rights if he does not continue to make an effort to see and possibly support the child throughout the separation and divorce proceedings.  No one here has enough information about the specifics of this situation to give good advice other than to say he needs legal advice.

Answer 5

Mistakes complicating mistakes. He is on the hook now. Once he began supporting the child, he took it on until 18. Makes no difference about bio, the parent is responsible.