My W is pregnant from a one night stand. We are doing pretty good but I have some legal questions. I hope this does not sound cowardly, but if things don't work out between my W and I what can I do now to protect myself from financial/legal responsibilities to this child that is not mine? I do want to work through this and want to spend the rest of my life with my W but I also never thought my W would have an A and get pregnant. So now that I am in the real world, what can I do??? And how do I approach my W without scary her that I am leaving, because as of now I am not. I just want to know all my options.

You could probably ask someone in the Court Trustee's office of your county? If they don't know, they could refer you to the child support division of your city offices. <P>Maybe you can/should do nothing for now. Things might work out great for your marriage. If not, then cross that bridge when you get to it. I don't believe any state would award CS without a blood test esp. when paternity is questionable. Until then, it might be hurtful for you to be pursuing this as it is a distraction from all your MBing efforts!

Hutch,in Ohio men can now use paternity test to get "off the hook" to prove c isn't of the marriage. Just passed in 1998! Look into state laws concerning that.<P>love<BR>Debi<P>------------------<BR>Imagine....

hutch,<P>If you do nothing, you WILL be the father of the child, thanks to the notorious "assumed paternity" laws which declare a husband automatically the father (as in "child support" obligor) of any children born of the marriage. Inaction on your part is therefore the same thing as agreeing to be held financially responsible. If you want to avoid paying CS for another man's child, you must PROACTIVELY do something to prevent that from happening. And, in case your W tries to promise you that she would "never" sue you to support the child from the one night stand - forget it. Even written contracts to the effect are nullified by the courts on the presumption that a parent does not have the right to negotiate away a child's right to support. So her promises here are truly worthless, and the ONLY thing you can do to protect yourself is to formally (legally) deny paternity.<P>Some enlightened states allow you to formally deny paternity without having to divorce. You will have to check.<P>Btw, I'm not sure about Ohio's law. It may apply only to cases where the H did not know of the child's actual father. In cases where the H was aware, the H may still be liable. Anyhow, the message is the same - doing nothing means you WILL be financially responsible. So formally deny paternity..or else be prepared to shell out big bucks if your marriage ends.<P>Bystander<p>[This message has been edited by Bystander (edited September 05, 2001).]