International Issue International Paternity question

[Swissmiss]

I have a friend that lives in Germany.
She has a child with an US citizen ( US Army member). He was stationed back to the US before the baby was born. He never signed a birth certificate, but also doesn't deny being the father of the child.
German authorities ( called the Jugendamt) has contacted him ceveral times to take a paternity test and sign the birth certificate.
He doesn't wanna sign for whatever reasons.
Since there isn't an agreement between the US and Germany, there isn't a thing the german authorities could do to make him take the test, sign the birth certificate or pay child support.

However. he has offered to take the paternity test in the US
(since it is cheaper).Don't ask me why he doesn't wanna sign , but agrees to take a test

My question now is:
A) can my friend force a paterinty test in America?
B) Can my friend as a German citizen (once the paternity is established) go before an American court to get a court order for him to pay child support?

 

[Swissmiss]

Can anyone help?

Wondering if anyone could gie me some basic information about my post?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Can you ask a more unsual question here???!!!! Wow... that's a really good one.

I don't know the laws offhand but I highly doubt that a paternity test can be compelled upon a US citizen from a German court. It's difficult enough to deal with extradition between states, let alone international boundaries. This is especially the case if the laws of Germany differ than the US with regard to being able to compel a paternity test.

HOWEVER, that being said, there is a legal concept called "comity" in which a US court will recognize rulings or decrees of foreign courts. This is frequently the case with divorce decrees. Perhaps she can obtain a court order in Germany and then attempt to enforce a foreign judgment in the US.

What may prompt results that might prove easier than using the law to traverse over international boundaries would be to see what can be done with a German decree presented to the US Army base in Germany. Perhaps your friend informing the father that she will be left with no choice but to involve the base might prompt the father to take some responsibility out of fear to potential repercussions and disciplinary actions.

 

[Swissmiss]

I try my best

I tyr my best to keep you busy with "unusual"question...lol..

the situstion is as followed...

A paternity test in Germany is usually proformed after the child in quetion is 9 month old.
At that time, the father ( let's call him Chris) of my friends (let's call her Susi) baby was already stationed back in the US.
She had , while she was still pregnant, contacted the Unit Comander where he was working, but there wasn't a thing that they could do for her either.

After the baby was born, Susi went to German authorities called the Jugendamt ,wich is a federal office that handles all concerns with children, e.a. paternety test for dead beat fathers, and they also pay childsupport for a child when the father (or mother) in question isn't paying. So you can imagine, that they would do everything in their powers to get a paternity test proformed and their money back from Chris.
They have contacted him several times via mail in the US, but they know as well as he does, that they cannot force Chris to take a paternity test while he is in the US. ( there isn't such a agreement between the US and Germany)

So my question was:

If Susi comes for a visit to the US can she, while she is here, force Chris to take a test?
Will Susi be able , after the paternity is established, able to get a court order from an US Court?
I am asking this because she is German and I am not sure if she is able to go before an american court forcing an US citizen to proform a test....

 

[CanadianDad]

further question about paternity of German child

hi, i'm in a similar situation to the US dad of the German child. I'm canadian, have just fathered the child of a German woman, but have not signed any papers, as I cannot read German. I have no reason to doubt that I'm the dad, and am willing to pay child support, but I really need good legal advice as to what my rights and obligations are.

I live in Asia, and don't have a formal relationship with the mom of the child, but so far, we're friends.

Any pointers as to where to find the best information / advice? And how much legal advice in germany costs?

thanks, canadian dad.

 

[NYClex]

If you look through the postings here in the forum you will find several ones I have written about German child support laws.

The basic principle is easy: You are the father - you have to pay. It does not matter if you are married to the mother or not. You have to pay a certain amount which is calculated by a complicated formula or taken from a table of amounts that have been preset after the formula.

The main aspect is the needs of the child, therefore the amounts vary over the years. Child support has to be paid at least until the child is 18, but usually longer: until the child has finished a main education (college education), longest until he or she reaches the 27th birthday.

The so called "Dusseldorf table" (a court in Duesseldorf established it) shows the standard child support amounts which vary by the income of the parents. The minimum is about US$ 200 per month, the maximum a little over $ 400 for children under 6. Older children get a little more.

Legal advice in Germany is not as expensive as it is in the U.S. There are many lawyers in Germany who are pretty fluent in English and could give that.

This is a random search on a German attorney locator webpage with the following parameters:

attorney search: specialty: family law (Familienrecht) sub-specialty: child support law (Unterhaltsrecht) foreign language spoken (Fremdsprache): English: http://www.anwalt24.de/suche/ergebnis/0/e8636a0fd2b0fbd812ee39762aaf668f

If someone does not pay child support the other parent can either get a court order herself, or can go to children services and have them get it, which is the usual way. That means the government will be after you. Not paying child support also is a crime in Germany which means an arrest warrant can and probably will be issued and the deadbeat parent could get arrested as soon as he sets foot into any European country.

Of course, a parent also has rights: at least visitation rights, often even joint legal custody.

 

[CanadianDad]

thanks NYC lex

thanks for your advice. canadian dad

 

[guestposter]

Are german paternity test results admissable in a us court of law?--chid born out of wedlock in germany of us armed forces members, man married the woman a year later. Parties had the legal version of paternity test in germany by a german dna lab. Man now wants to divorce the woman and wants custody of the child in the state of their marriage. Is that German paternity test (not court directed, but legal version of it) admissable in a us court of law?

Thank you.

 

[guestpost]

How long after the child's birth did you get the paper ?