In paternity suits, the Judgment of Filiation is the controlling order. The Friend of the Court receives and disburses payments in the same manner as divorce cases. State law allows a paternity action to be filed at any time up to the date the child turns 18.
Parenting time in paternity cases
Parenting time provisions of paternity orders are enforced by the Friend of the Court. Either party may contact the family counselor assigned to their case for assistance with parenting time problems. Please see the section entitled Parenting Time for more information.
You may have to pay confinement expenses AND support
The father is often ordered to pay medical expenses connected with the birth of the baby. These expenses may be ordered payable through the Friend of the Court. The amount of the bill may not be known at the time of the court order.
Starting those payments
Unless the Judgment of Filiation specifies another date, the first support payment is always due on the date of the judgment. Don't wait to be informed that the Friend of the Court has opened an account for you. Start setting aside support money every week. Keep contacting the Friend of the Court until you learn your account is open. Then, send in all the support money you have been accumulating.
If the mother and father marry after the Judgment of Filiation, they should mail a copy of the marriage license to the Friend of the Court to close the case. Before doing so, however, arrangements must be made to pay all sums owed to any public agencies.
