Hello, My child is 12years old and I have recently applied for child support through the Division of Child Support Enforcement in Illinois. I was not married to my daughters father and paternity was never established due to the fact that he was afraid that his other children's mother would find out and keep the kids from him also he was afraid that he would go to jail since I was 13 and he was 20 when I became pregnant he refused to sign anything and made threats about hurting me or my family. He knew this was his child and had some contact on and off for the first five years of her life. We even lived with him for almost a year when she was about four but things did not work out because he was seeing other women so we moved out. He had some contact with my daughter after that for maybe a year and even watched her some days during the summer while I would work. We ended in a dispute because I would not leave my daughter at his house when his new girlfriend was there he called the police and had me removed from his property and after that he refused to see my daughter.
When he received the court papers in late April he had his ex wife contact me to see if we could settle this out of court and I refused. On our first court date 7/1/08 he came with a lawyer and requested a DNA test and denied all knowledge of my child. I understand he has a right to a DNA test but he is trying to say that he never even knew about her until he received those papers this April. While in the room waiting for the DNA swab he was talking to his lawyer, while my child was there, making comments about how he never even knew he had another child and then he asked his lawyer.."If worst comes to worst and I am the father can I file for full custody?" The lawyer advised him he could. I felt really intimidated by the fact that I had nobody there to help me and I guess I just need to know all the legal stuff. The next court date is in two months and I am very scared of this man. This is why it has taken me so long to file for support and on that court date he got what he wanted he scared me all over again and now I feel very lost and confused because I am not aware of the laws. Part of me wants to give up and then I think that if I do it wouldn't be fair to my daughter she has already lost out for the past 12 years of her life both financially and emotionally because of my fear and ignorance. I just need some advice .....Please help!
When he received the court papers in late April he had his ex wife contact me to see if we could settle this out of court and I refused. On our first court date 7/1/08 he came with a lawyer and requested a DNA test and denied all knowledge of my child. I understand he has a right to a DNA test but he is trying to say that he never even knew about her until he received those papers this April. While in the room waiting for the DNA swab he was talking to his lawyer, while my child was there, making comments about how he never even knew he had another child and then he asked his lawyer.."If worst comes to worst and I am the father can I file for full custody?" The lawyer advised him he could. I felt really intimidated by the fact that I had nobody there to help me and I guess I just need to know all the legal stuff. The next court date is in two months and I am very scared of this man. This is why it has taken me so long to file for support and on that court date he got what he wanted he scared me all over again and now I feel very lost and confused because I am not aware of the laws. Part of me wants to give up and then I think that if I do it wouldn't be fair to my daughter she has already lost out for the past 12 years of her life both financially and emotionally because of my fear and ignorance. I just need some advice .....Please help!
