I don’t understand why families go to court over issues involving children. Courts take lots of your time and even more of your money. The Family Court of Massachusetts alone orders more than 4000 paternity tests each year. These families are paying to file child support or paternity suits, many are paying attorneys to represent them, and most are spending a lot of time waiting in the courtroom for their turn to be heard and ruled upon. All this for a judges order saying a man has to pay child support?
Most of those 4000 court ordered paternity test had to be a result of peace of mind issues. You’ve got a guy saying he’s not going to financially support a child before he knows the child is his. The best way for him to know is with a DNA test.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like most men who are able would be more than willing to support a child they know they fathered. Most would do it without a judge telling them they had to. In fact, most men who are court ordered to pay child support are probably more resentful and less likely to pay up than those who aren’t court ordered.
The bottom line is paternity testing is convenient and affordable. Why not try to settle everything outside the court room in order to avoid the cost and stress of it all? In the end, if you can’t work something out your DNA test results are court admissible.
If you need advice, there are some good family attorneys out there who may be able to help resolve the situation outside the court room.
