Paternity Law

Usually, retroactive child support can go back two years from the filing date that a mother or someone who had legal standing to file for child support filed an action for child support. The father sometimes owes retroactive child support and medical expenses related to the birth of the child. The law used to be able to go all the way back to the date of birth, and it was changed to restrict the claim to two years prior to the date of filing. Every case has a different set of facts, and if the child was born prior the date the statute was changed, exceptions might apply. This is why an attorney needs to be consulted and case law for your specific jurisdiction reviewed.

IMPORTANT FACT: The Department of Revenue (DOR) sues for child support but cannot, by law, enter any orders for establishing court-ordered contact schedules. Seek legal advice about how to get court-ordered contact if you have a (DOR) case and want to have contact with your child or children.

Strictly under the law as to jurisdiction, one factor for establishing “long arm” jurisdiction is for a child to be born in Florida. So, a paternity case could be filed in Florida when the child lived out of the State of Florida, and alleged that Florida had jurisdiction based on the fact that the child was born in Florida. This does NOT mean that the case will remain in Florida, BUT if there was not a case previously filed in the other state, one could argue that it was an extreme financial hardship for the Florida parent to have to go out of state to pursue the paternity action and the case might remain in Florida. There are two issues: jurisdiction and venue to consider.

Determining Jurisdiction and Venue:
There are procedures that the courts in two or more states follow to determine in which state (or country) a case should be. The Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act would also be relevant and the fact that a child is resident in a state for six months or more makes that state the home state of the child, and it is likely that issues about a child are going to be determined in a court in the child’s home state, at least initially. If the child is in danger, and needs to be removed from his or her home state, then Florida could become the state to determine the issues if the authorities put the child in the care of a parent living in Florida. Also, sometimes the child does not have a home state because he/she has recently moved, and if a parent lives in Florida and it is in the child’s best interests to relocate to Florida, then the fact that the child was born in Florida might be sufficient for the Florida court to take jurisdiction and hear the issues in the case. Jurisdiction and venue are complicated issues.

Some judges rule that if a paternity action has not ever been filed, a mother can move anywhere she wants with a child, even when the father is named on the birth certificate. Other judges take a more conservative approach. Case law through the appellate courts needs to address this issue so that all children in Florida have the same protection under the law as to not being deprived contact with their father.