Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
An ex is claiming her child of 12 years old is mine..... She says that she is applying for a dna test and that i will have to pay something like £300 for it and then csa will backdate money when its proven im the father.... Is this true? Im not on the childs birth cert nor does he have my surname.....
Hi
no, the CSA (presmumably te CMS now in fact) will only backdate to the day they opened the case. What happens is that they will write to you asking you to pay maintenance. Immediately, tell them that you dispute paternity - they will tell you that you need to pay for a DNA test. If this proves positive, then you are liable for the maintenance and the cost of the DNA test, but if it proves negative, then you may be able to claim back the cost of the DNA test from them, and you won't be liable for maintenance (not sure, but you might actually be liable between the date the open the case, and the date you dispute paternity). If she refuses the DNA test, then this is taken as a negative test (not sure whether you have to take any steps to try to enforce her to allow the DNA test).
Why do i have to pay for the dna test?? Shes the one that all of a sudden has decided im the father after apparently not knowing for the past 12 years?
I suppose the idea behind it is to stop fathers from denying paternity for the sake of it, which would be unfair on the mother in genuine cases. But as I said, if the test proves negative, then you should be able to claim back the cost of the DNA test from the CMS.
Hi mattmstvl
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options consultant. I will provide some information that may confirm what other members have posted.
If the person who is asked to pay maintenance denies that they are the parent, the Child Maintenance Service classes this as a disputed parentage case. If a claim is made to the, they will ask the person named if they accept that they are the child's parent. If they deny it, the Child Maintenance Service will look into the reasons why and ask them to provide evidence to support their denial. They will not ask them to pay child maintenance until the dispute has been resolved. You can find more information on the Child Maintenance Service’s disputed parentage process on Gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/disagreements-about-parentage. You can also find further details of the Child Maintenance Service’s DNA testing process on the same site at https://www.gov.uk/dna-testing-parentage-disagreements.
For more information on the ways to set up child maintenance, please visit our website at http://www.cmoptions.org. Alternatively, you can call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on a Saturday. We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful. It offers help and support to separating and separated families. The link is: www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
Regards
William
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.