Paying without a court order!

[Angel214]

Thank you for adding me.
I have some concerns of a situation that my husband and I are dealing with.
O.k., for starters he's been paying $200 a month to his little boys mother. We have no court order telling him to pay it but he's been doing that since the begining. But sometimes it's hard to pay that much, but she calls and bothers me about the money constatly and we also have a daughter to care for. Before we met he wasn't writing checks to her, just giving cash. Can he be made to backpay even if there's no proof the child is actually his and what can I do about her constant phone calls about money? We're doing what we can. But she uses the kid against him. He thinks if he doesn't agree to whatever she says he won't get to see the child. The situation is really stressful and I just need some advice on what we should do. I don't know if the law is different but they live in Alabama. Any input you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Angel

 

[Duranie]

First of all, until paternity is established and there is no order for support, he does not have to pay her anything.

It is a terrible idea to pay her in cash. He should always either give he ra check or a money order and document it child support.

It is possible she can take him to court and establish an order of support and I can tell you, its probably going to be more than 200/month. Your child might come into play when the courts calculate it but 200/mo is not much to begin with.

so if he wants, he can wait for the mother to file for child support/paternity but be advised, CS might cause you a financial hardship if an order is put in. I would google your states child support guidelines to see what he will be paying but I would do what I can to keep her from doing that, and he should give her a check or money order and not cash.

Also unless he is absolutely sure the child is his, he might want to let mom file papers so that paternity can be established.