State KNOWS it's not mine, but STILL WANTS CHILD SUPPORT!

Here's the situation, with as much detail as possible...

I got out of the service, and returned to Vermont with a pregnant wife back in 1989. 2 months after having the child, my wife left, taking the child with her.

My ex-wife has a 10 year old divorce decree and court order that demands I pay $300.00/month child support. This divorce decree was issued in Texas, of which I've never lived, but she and the child in question were there at the time. I was not present during any of the settlement, and she saw that the settlement was done using our taxes from when I was in the service, using financial information that was nowhere near accurate.

Shortly thereafter, we lost track of each other. There was NO contact, whatsoever, between any of the people involved during this time period (10 years).

Approximately one year ago, I recieved a phone call. It was her. Her new military husband and her were moving to NY state. Did I want to establish contact with the girl who was giving her mom hell for her not knowing who I was?

I convinced her to let me have a visitation with the child this past summer, and during this time, I had a paternity test done. When my ex found out about this, as I had done it without her consent, she immediately filed to collect the child support from the state of NY where she now is a resident, with the child.

In all this time, she never pursued this....until now, and I have NEVER PAID ONE PENNY towards this child, or the court order.

The test results indicated that the person reading this post has more genetically in common with the child than I do. I called her, and informed her of the results. She claimed she knew that already, and had the child recite in the background a little mantra over the phone: "Eric is my biological father, you are my legal father, Andrew is my step father." So, in essense, she has filed for collecting child support on a child she knew was not mine.

The state of NY contacted the state of Vermont, where I reside, and insisted on collecting the debt. The state of Vermont insisted I pay it. I showed them the test results, and the office of Child Support has indeed acknowledged the certified test results as being valid, and that I am not the father, and even went so far as to forwarding a copy to the NY state office as well.

So, what is the problem? Both states are still persuing the case, because they are following the court order they are mandated to uphold. The state of Vermont has claimed it does not have jurisdiction on the order. The Child Support office in NY claims it cannot do anything about the order other than enforce it, and that the order is not theirs either, so there is nothing they can do about it.

So, my question is this....how can I get one of these states to actually claim this order as their jurisdiction before they begin to rob me blind for a bastard child that is someone elses responsibility? I have all the documentation to show that this is a bogus case, but I do not have a lot of money to hire a lawyer. I know that all this will take is getting these facts and the paper in front of a judge, and the case will be dismissed, but neither state seems interested in telling me HOW I may do so...

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated, so I may dedicate my mind and thoughts on my new bride and my new son, who actually DOES belong to me.

I think we answered this post in another thread -- which is basically that you should (1) have the ex and military husband take care of the problem as you will need to pursue their prosecution for fraud (2) alert the agencies attempting to enforce of the matter and that you are pursuing it and (3) alert the attorney general's office of NY and TX about a fraudulently obtained court order. I'm wondering how paternity was established in the first place -- how was it? The test should have uncovered the problem.

As you may have noticed, I also replied to the other post with this same answer, but for the benefit of any who may have questions similiar, I'll reply here as well.

Thank you for your insightful comments. Here's the answer to your question. NO test was performed initially when the child was born, only recently. Paternity was established due only to the fact that a child was borne to a married woman. OBVIOUSLY, the child MUST be the husband's was the logical conclusion of the TX judge, since the mother provided the name of her husband to them as such.

NEW DEVELOPMENT: The state has finally began to automatically tap into my paychecks on a weekly basis, deducting what I "owe". When this is brought to court, is it possible to expect, or ask for the return of such funds already collected to their rightful benefactor, ie; my son?

I have had experience with the dreaded family support div. in two CA counties. They kept garnishing wages and charging me when the child resided with me. I could not take care of it through the courts so I handled it this way: I contacted the County Board of Supervisors in the county where the case was held and gave them my proof. They got on it right now!!! Both counties ended up paying me back for wrongful collections. They are much faster and more efficient than the courts. Try it.

UPDATE

Well, THAT is a very interesting piece of information...thanks, I will look into that ASAP.

In the meantime, I finally recieved notice from the Family County Court that I am being hauled before a judge to pay this.

This means the state of Vermont finally made it their jurisdiction.

Of course, they only want enforcement to be the issue. I was told that I need to file a countermotion, but the local law seems to only want to tell me how if I hand a $2500.00 retainer over.

Folks, that's 10 months of car payments to me. I don't have this kind of cash...

Another note: The ex-wife MOVED back to Texas in the middle of March, with the child. Apparently she neglected to tell NY or NY forgot to tell VT, because my court summons was dated in APRIL.

Pray tell, what impact would this all have upon my state's attempt to collect for another state who no longer has the child in their jurisdiction?

Please don't fork over any more cash until you call the County Board of Supervisors. As long as you have proof to back up what you're saying, they will go all out for you right away. God bless you and don't worry.