Spartanburg Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Stevens-MacPhail Law Firm : South Carolina Family Law Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head Island

A mother who lost custody of her three children in a divorce has argued to the Washington Supreme Court that she should have had an attorney appointed to represent her.  The woman, who only has a ninth-grade education, attempted to get pro bono representation, but she was declined because of the complexity of her case.  As a result, she ended up representing herself, while her husband had an attorney.

Her appeal focuses on the open courts provision of the Washington state constitution includes an open courts provision, which says that justice in all cases should be administered openly, and justice shouldn’t be delayed.  The argument being made by the mother's appellate attorney is that "access" in this instance means "meaningful access," which requires a lawyer.

You can read much more about this novel theory in the article referenced below.  You can also follow this case, King v. King, No. 57831-6-1, at the Washington Supreme Court's website.

Source:  "Mom Wants State to Pay in Custody Battle" by Stephanie Francis Ward, published in the ABA Journal eReport.

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For many people, conceiving a child is easy, but figuring out who should pay child support for that child can be complicated.  In South Carolina, if a child is born during a marriage, the husband is presumed to be the legal father of that child.  If the wife had an adulterous affair, the husband will need to bring add her lover as a party to the Family Court case so that the lover can be declared the legal father of that child.  Should the husband fail to do so, he could be stuck with all of the financial responsibility for that child, even though it isn't his biological child.

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that more than a third of children born in the United States are born to unwed parents.  The alleged father may (or may not) be the biological father, depending on the mother's sexual activity.  When one of my clients is alleged to be the father of a child, I typically recommend that he have a DNA paternity test conducted to be sure that the child really is his.

AskMen.com reports that there has even been a group founded to deal with such issues:  U.S. Citizens Against Paternity Fraud.  Its founder, Carnell Smith, has even proposed mandatory DNA testing upon the birth of a child, because, as he claims, “it's not a crime for someone to lie about which man is the father… [and] the mother doesn't have to return the money and rarely, if ever, is she prosecuted for perjury, for fraud."

I don't know that I would go as far as Mr. Smith has suggested, but I do believe that every child should have the right to know and have a relationship with his/her parents, as long as those parents act reasonably and responsibly.  What do you think about his proposal?

Source:  "Child Support When It's Not Yours" published at AskMen.com.

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Yes. Child support should not be confused with custody and visitation. Every parent has an obligation to support his or her children. With one narrow exception, no state allows a parent to withhold support because of disputes over visitation. The exception? If the custodial parent disappears for a lengthy period so that no visitation is possible, a few courts have ruled that the noncustodial parent's duty to pay child support may be considered temporarily suspended.

No matter what the circumstances, if you believe that your ex is interfering with your visitation rights, the appropriate remedy is to go back to court to have your rights enforced rather than to stop making support payments.

Copyright 2005 Nolo

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Judges in most states are prohibited by law from retroactively modifying a child support obligation. This means if a person becomes unable to pay support, he or she may petition the court for a reduction, but, even if the court reduces future payments, it will most likely hold the parent liable for the full amount of support owed at the time. For this reason, if a parent with a child support obligation starts falling behind because the parent's income has decreased or debts have increased, the parent should immediately seek a temporary modification.

For example, let's say Joe has a child support obligation of $300 per month. Joe is laid off of his job, and six months pass before he finds another one with comparable pay. Although Joe could have sought a temporary decrease on the grounds of diminished income, he lets the matter slide and fails to pay any support during the six-month period. Joe's ex-wife later brings Joe into court to collect the $1,800 arrearage. Joe cannot obtain a retroactive ruling excusing him from making the earlier payments.

Copyright 2005 Nolo

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A paternity action, a court suit filed to have a man declared the father of a child, can be brought by either the mother or the father. Paternity actions are sometimes called establishment hearings, filiation hearings, or parentage actions.

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You and your child's other parent may agree to modify the child support terms, but even an agreed-upon modification for child support must be approved by a judge to be legally enforceable.

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n most states, the judge can examine a parent's ability to earn as well as what the parent is actually earning. The judge may order higher child support if there is a discrepancy. Actual earnings are an important factor in determining a person's ability to earn, but they are not conclusive where there is evidence that a person could earn more, if he or she chose to do so.

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A court looks at the payer's gross income from all sources, less any mandatory deductions (income taxes, Social Security, health care, and mandatory union dues). The result is the payer's net income.

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In order to qualify as child support, the payments received by an ex-spouse must be designated as child support in the divorce or separation agreement. If the agreement lumps the payments together as "family support" or "alimony," or doesn't otherwise designate a specific portion of each payment as child support, none of the payment will be considered child support for tax purposes.

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The question "Who is the father?" is not as simple a question as you might think. There are important legal distinctions between different situations.

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