Tag: Father Forced Paternity

Paternity and Celebrity

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Paternity meets celebrity after rocker, Dave Grohl, announces he is welcoming a child, but his wife of 21 years is not the mother. Dave is rumored to have already retained a divorce lawyer. Besides the couple’s raw emotions, what are some of the family law issues involved when a spouse has a child outside of the marriage?

Celebrity Paternity

I have a confession to make

Dave Grohl was the drummer for grunge band Nirvana, and is the founder, lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the Foo Fighters. Dave is recognized as the father of rock ’n roll these days: he’s talented, family-oriented, and beloved by fans, musicians and divorce attorneys alike. His nickname is “the nicest dude in rock.”

Dave and his wife Jordyn Blum met in 2001 when she was working as a producer at MTV. They married in 2003. They share three kids. His previous marriage ended in 1997. This week Dave’s reputation may have taken a hit after he announced in a post that he was having a child outside his marriage:

“I’ve recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage. I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness. We’re grateful for your consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together.”

The decision by Dave to make a pre-emptive announcement may well have been an attempt to control the narrative, something that crisis communications experts say is savvy. But there are also important family law issues when you have an extra-marital relationship which results in the birth of a child.

Florida Paternity Law

I have written about Florida family law matters, such as paternity, before. When a child is born during a marriage, the legal duty to support that child presumptively rests with the married couple. This presumption protects the welfare of the child. In Dave’s case, it is unclear if the natural mother of Dave’s child is married to another man.

Florida has specific laws relating to children born out of wedlock. Right now, Dave would be considered a “putative father”, meaning someone who may be the biological father of a child, whose paternity has not been established, and the child’s mother was unmarried when the child was conceived and born.

Generally, the parents of a child born out of wedlock, after paternity is established, are the natural guardians of the child, and are entitled and subject to the rights and responsibilities of parents.

But until the father has established paternity under Florida law, the mother of a child born out of wedlock is the natural guardian of the child. Before a court determines paternity, the mother is entitled to primary residential care and custody of the child unless the court enters an order stating otherwise.

Monkey wrench

The announcement was met with different reactions. Some fans took it as a personal affront. Mockery and memes of a sad-looking Ben Affleck also proliferated online, even as Dave pleaded for “consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together.”

The level of upset by fans speaks to Dave’s place in the music world, where he has reached high levels of adoration and respect. He is one of just a small group of musicians enshrined into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with two bands.

But Dave is not the only celebrity to have paternity issues. He joins a list that includes Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bob Marley, and Eric Clapton. While Dave’s celebrity paternity announcement may have gotten ahead of the news, it also left several unanswered legal questions.

The Newsweek article is here.

Father Must Share Custody with Mother’s Boyfriend

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

In a custody decision that will surprise many family lawyers, a Pennsylvania court ordered the natural father of his child to equally share custody of his child with the Mother’s boyfriend. It is a decision that is putting the nature of parental rights back in the news. Will the natural father’s appeal be granted?

Custody Boyfriend

Loco Parentis

The child, S.J., was born in April 2020. At the time, the mother was in a relationship with a man named Kareem Smith. At the time of S.J.’s birth, Kareem thought he was the biological father.

Then the mother died in May 2021, and her boyfriend continued to act as the father.

Victor got a paternity test which confirmed that he, not Kareem, was the biological father of S.J. The Mother’s boyfriend, Kareem, was merely acting in loco parentis – a Latin term meaning “in place of a parent.”

About a month after the paternity test results showed he was the natural father, Victor filed an action for sole custody of S.J. against Kareem. A custody hearing was held in February 2023.

Victor’s position was that Kareem was effectively an interloper who was interfering with Victor’s rights as the parent.  The family court held a few proceedings to introduce Victor to S.J.  Afterwards, the family court entered a temporary order.

The temporary order determined that Kareem was a psychological parent of the child, or was in loco parentis status because of his involvement as the child’s perceived father for more than a year. The court then awarded shared legal custody and shared physical custody on a 50/50 basis to the two fathers.

The natural father appealed.

Florida De Facto Parents

I’ve written about parental responsibility in Florida before. Florida uses the parental responsibility concept. Generally, shared parental responsibility is a relationship ordered by a court in which both parents retain their full parental rights and responsibilities.

Under shared parental responsibility, parents are required to confer with each other and jointly make major decisions affecting the welfare of their child. In Florida, shared parental responsibility is the preferred relationship between parents when a marriage or a relationship ends.

The test applied to determine parental responsibility is the best interests of the child. Determining the best interests of a child is no longer entirely subjective. Instead, the decision is based on an evaluation of certain factors affecting the welfare and interests of the child and the circumstances of the child’s family.

Florida courts have considered the role of loco parentis, or psychological parents, like grandparents for instance, in a child’s life. Generally, in a dispute between a natural father and de facto parents, custody can be denied to the natural father only if there is clear and convincing evidence that the natural father abandoned the child, or is unfit, or placing the child with the natural father will be detrimental to the child’s welfare.

Heartbreaker in the Quaker State

On appeal, the Father argued that the trial court erred granting the mother’s boyfriend shared physical and legal custody of the child when the weight of the evidence was against shared custody.

The appellate court noted that in Pennsylvania, a natural parent has a prima facie right to custody, which will be forfeited only if convincing reasons appear that the child’s best interest will be served by an award to the third party.

The appellate court found no basis for changing the custody order because the family court judge found, by clear and convincing evidence, the need for stability and continuity in the child’s life was sufficient to overcome the presumption that custody be awarded to the natural parent. Because of the child’s “need for continuity”, and the fact that the two fathers co-parented well, the court affirmed the shared custody order.

The decision of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania is here.

Father Reproductive Rights

Posted by admin on

On behalf of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Paternity on Friday, July 26, 2013.

The Supreme Court’s recent DOMA decision – about the fairness in treating homosexual marriages equally under the law – got me thinking: do Fathers have equal reproductive rights?

If a woman conceives a child with a man, and she does not want to raise the child, she really doesn’t have to. And, there is nothing a man can do about it, even if he really wanted to be a father. The choice is the woman’s alone.

Women have access to contraception, abortion services, foster care services and adoptive parents. If a woman wanted not to be a mother after becoming pregnant, she can choose not be a mother at any time she wants. Even over the strong objections of the father.

This is true even after the birth of the child. Many Florida cities have a Safe Haven for Newborns program allowing mothers to leave a newborn at certain hospitals and fire stations with no questions asked.

But if a woman has a child – either accidentally or without the father’s knowledge – and the father never wanted a child, he is out of luck. Sure, he can suggest an abortion, but if the mother wants to raise the child, he will be stuck with years of child support payments.

Do men now have less reproductive autonomy than women? Should men have more control over when and how they become parents, as women do?

The New York Times recently ran an editorial about this issue:

“if women’s partial responsibility for pregnancy does not obligate them to support a fetus, then men’s partial responsibility for pregnancy does not obligate them to support a resulting child.” At most, according to Brake, men should be responsible for helping with the medical expenses and other costs of a pregnancy for which they are partly responsible.

If a woman decides to give birth to a child without getting the biological father’s consent to raise a child with her, should he be forced into legal paternity?

Not allowing reproductive rights for fathers, and forcing child custody, could lead to disestablishment cases which are not in the best interest of the child. Biological fathers may also be use violence or threats when child support orders are enforced against them, or maybe abandon the child.

There is some wiggle room. In Florida we have a disestablishment of paternity statute which men can use after they break up with the mother. However, it generally requires newly discovered evidence that the father is not the biological father of the child.

When men and women have an unplanned pregnancy, men find that the law is stacked up against them. This unequal treatment under the law may be a matter that needs to be corrected. Is it time for men’s reproductive rights?