Another guy gets screwed by the courts

This is just plain wrong. This fellow in Texas divorced after years, and four kids later. One of the kids needed tissue typing for some medical reason, and the father was tested to see if he was a match.

Turns out not only is he not a match, he is not the father.

The only child who is his is the girl, the three boys are by another man.

In court, Mr. Morgan said he should not be paying child support for the kids he did not father. The judge said he should have brought up paternity at the time of the divorce.

He didn’t because he did not know the ex-wife was screwing another man.

Now he has been denied visitation because he told the kids he is not their biological father.

Shouldn’t this guy have legal recourse to sue the ex-wife for fraud, and also go after her lover/s to recover costs?

That is 52% of his income.

I wouldn’t pay it, I’d leave the country.

Don’t see why he wasn’t awarded custody and the ex forced to pay him child support.

Women like that make it hard as hell for those of us who don’t betray a husband.

Comments, anyone?

I have heard of numerous cases like this, and it is unfortunate. Although things are improving a bit, the courts definately are paternalistic toward woman, which is insulting to both men and women.

Personally, if they were not his kids I would not grant him custody, but I would not make him pay child support payments either.

Stories like this scare me away from marriage! :eek:

Mr. Morgan is an asshole. At best, his anger is affecting his judgment.

He doesn’t want to pay support for kids that aren’t “his.” What happens when adoptive parents split up? It’s not just blood that makes a child “his”. Did those little girls call him daddy? Did he care for them at all?

As for being denied visitation because he told them he wasn’t their biological father – what purpose was served when he dropped this bombshell on those kids? Another instance of bad judgment – he shouldn’t be spending time with those girls if he can’t control his feelings and his mouth around them.

He didn’t know his ex-wife was screwing around? She screwed around enough to have three children by another man, and he didn’t suspect something was wrong? Did he ever go home?

Why would he want custody of children that he doesn’t consider to be his? To punish their mother?

Mom must be some piece of work as well. Too bad those kids have to live with either of them.

Sorry this doesn’t speak precisely to your question about a lawsuit for fraud. The lawyers on the board can respond to that one.

My brother married a woman who was pregnant with another man’s child. He knew this. They divorced after about three years, and he paid support faithfully until the boy was 18, even though mom moved 1800 miles away and he rarely got to see the kid.

It’s not always about what’s fair to mom and dad – the kids are all that matter.

lindsay wrote:

According to another, earlier thread here in Great Debates (damned if I can find it, though), even if he had brought up paternity at the time of the divorce, it wouldn’t have helped. He’d been taking care of the kids while he was married, so it’s as though he’s adopted them. They’re still considered “his” for purposes of legal responsibility.

Of course, if he’s considered their “father” for purposes of child support, he should be considered their “father” for purposes of visitation rights, too. Denying him that right would be like forcing him to pay for a trinket he accidentally broke in a gift shop (“You break it, you bought it”), and yet not allowing him to take the pieces of the trinket home with him.

The children may not be his biological children, but in every legal sense they are his children, biological or not. So like tracer said, either he pays child support and gets visitation rights, or he gets no visitation rights but doesn’t pay child support.

And IMHO, the legal system is really messed up most of the time.

I’m with AuntiePam here. The parents are both jerks, but the father is worse. (That’s right, I said father). The whole thing is disgusting.

WEll, not having raised any kids myself, I can not really speak to what this situation might feel like. Perhaps I WOULD still consider them “mine” after having raised them umpteen years. But this has got to be a devestating bit of news to find out…I really wouldn’t blame the man too much for “not handling it well”. Exactly where in the manual of life does it tell you what to do with this situation?

As far as his noting knowing his wife was messing around, could be she was a good sneak, or could be he was just in denial. It is not his “fault” he was cheated on.

Anyway, aside from what is technically in the penal code, I’d say if he wanted out of these kids lives, he ought to have the right to get out. If he doesn’t want to be around, no law forcing him to is gonna be of much use to the kids. They still aren’t gonna have a father.

A problem is that in a lot of states, a man cannot bring up the issue of paternity during a divorce even if he suspects the kid(s) are not his. These states work on the ‘presumption of paternity’ rule.
There is a legal presumption that a child born to a married mother is a child of the marriage. The husband, who may not be the father, has legal Parental Responsibility and is presumed responsible. The courts have been known to order that child maintenance be paid by the husband even though DNA testing has proved he is not the biological father of the child.
The father cannot challenge the presumption. I’m not sure if the mother can.

To insert a comment unrelated to the specific case, it is simply NOT the case, nor should it be, that support payments should in any way be connected with visitation rights.

Parents are forced to pay support because the child has a positive legal right to be supported by its parents. A parent has a legal responsibility to materially support their child irrespective of anything else (short of the child being adopted by someone else, I guess.)

It seems like a small distinction, but it’s important; if Smith has to pay $X in support, that’s because Smith’s CHILD has a right to $X in support, not because it’s a fee to visit the child.

The real asshole in this case, and the one who is being rewarded by the courts, is the man who fathered children with another man’s wife.

The child must be supported financially, of course, but he is the one who should be judged to have the positive responsibility.

The wife is also an asshole, of course, for cheating on her husband.

The husband is an asshole for taking out his anger at the mother on the children.

The whole lot of them should be exiled to Springerville for the rest of their unnatural lives.

I agree with Rickjay. Child support does not equal child visitation rights. To paraphrase Judge Judy “YOU PAY IT FOR THE CHILD! WHETHER YOU VISIT THE CHILD OR NOT!”

Mr. Morgan probably didn’t suspect the flooze was screwing around because the kids are all blonde and blue eyed. I’d presume he also took seriously the vows to not have sex with another woman.

He said he told the 3 boys he is not the biological parent because the teachers and others advised him to do so, and when that fact was used against him in denying visitation.

Guess the thinking was that someone was going to tell the kids they are ‘bastards’ and that they might as well hear it from the ‘parent’.

The man who is the father of those 3 boys is getting away with the perfect crime.

I’d like to ask that woman what was she thinking, that she wouldn’t get caught?

Those poor kids, nothing like facing a lifetime of hearing ‘your mom is a whore and you don’t have a daddy’.

I still side with Mr. Morgan, he shouldn’t be footing the other man’s kids.

The kids are all that matter? Wrong. The parents still have a right to enjoy life without breathing and thinking of the offspring every minute.

That is slavery.

If that poor guy is making $100,000 a year, then $52,000. goes to the bimbo with the kids. Not a bad job, if you can stand the hours.

I say Mr. Morgan should go after the father of the kids to recover his lost wages. His lifestyle shouldn’t suffer, just because of the wife he had screwed around.

I agree with lindsay on this one.

Maybe Mr. Morgan should go to the father, but the children shouldn’t be punished because of their mother’s infidelity. Maybe they should stop being so damn selfish, both of them, and think of the children’s welfare for about 2 seconds instead of their hurt pride, especially Mr. Morgan.
Whether they are biologically “his” or not, it shouldn’t matter. He raised them from the beginning, he’s always supported them, and if he stops, what are they going to do?

lindsay wrote (and avalongod agreed with)

I sincerely hope neither of you are parents.

Maybe this guy actually loved the ex. Anybody here know how bad it hurts when the one you love sleeps with another? And to have physical evidence that it happen at least three times. And to have evidence that the one you love decieved you for years.

And to have to 52K a year for that deception!!!

Thats gotta hurt like hell every time he writes the check. Even if the amount were nominal, it would still hurt like hell.

Maybe they shoulda considered that before having sex, huh? Without thinking of the offspring every minute? They CREATED those lives, and they are responsible for them until they reach legal majority, period.

I used to think like you, Lindsay. Cripes, if Melin was still around, she’d tell you about the times she went round and round with me on this topic.

I have two nephews and a niece. They are all living with my mother right now, primarily because my older sister is a selfish ass who cannot keep a job, who thinks she’s still 18, and who recently went through a bout of drug-related legal trouble. So, she left the kids with my mother and gave her power of attorney.

This is the second time she’s done this to her oldest (age 11). 6 years ago, she ran to Florida with a boyfriend and signed over custody to the boy’s father. She then fought a custody battle a few years later, and got shared custody.

Her middle child (age 4), she didn’t even tell the father she was pregnant. (This was the guy she ran to Florida with.) When he was born, she left that portion of the birth certificate blank. He’s never met his father.

Her daughter actually was born in the context of a marriage. Unfortunately, she drove her husband out because of her poor housekeeping skills and constant spending on beer and pot. Before she did, she got her husband to sign her middle son’s birth certificate as the legal father.

So, we have three kids living at my mother’s. My mom is 52, and lives with her boyfriend in a 2-bedroom house. The middle child sleeps on a rollaway in their room, and the other 2 share a room. They both work. They are paying $140 a week for a sitter. My sister is giving them no money. The oldest one’s father refuses to see him, and is not paying support. My sister’s ex-husband has not seen the two younger one’s since March, and also is paying nothing. My mother is trying to find the time and money to initiate some court actions against these fathers. In the meantime, they are trying to take care of these kids on very little money, kids who have been put through an emotional wringer.

They are all sweet, smart kids. The oldest is so confused, having been dumped by his mother twice in 6 years, and neglected and abused mentally by his father. The middle one tells people his father is dead. The youngest is, mercifully, too young to understand too much.

The parents deserve to live without having to think of the offpsring? Fuck the parents. Fuck my sister, and fuck the two good-for-nothing fathers. They can get out of their selfish fucking heads, and meet their responsibilities. What did these kids do to deserve this treatment? Not a goddamned thing.

However, the guy who’s the subject of the OP is not one of the two who had sex and created these lives. He’s just the guy who’s gotta cough up 52k a year to pay for it.

However, the guy who’s the subject of the OP is not one of the two who had sex and created these lives. He’s just the guy who’s gotta cough up 52k a year to pay for it.