It’s important for most men to know that they’re the biological fathers to the children they call their own. But when paternity tests have been skewed and a man who believed he fathered a child realizes that’s not actually the case, it can be devastating. Michigan takes paternity fraud very seriously, especially when a man has been paying child support for a child be believed was his biologically.

The heart of paternity fraud

Essentially, paternity fraud can be attributed to a mother who claims a man is the father of her child when that isn’t the case. She may actually know he is not the biological father or she may just suspect he may not be, although he has been named on the child’s birth certificate. When a man signs an affidavit of paternity of birth certificate form on the urging of the mother, Michigan courts use those documents to assign child support payments, even if a DNA test hasn’t been taken.

Can go on for years

If it turns out the man is not the biological father of the child and he has been making support payments for years, it’s not as easy as simply stopping those payments. The court usually decides if the payments should continue based on the best interests of the child. The impact paternity fraud can have on everyone involved is huge, so it is extremely important for paternity testing to be done if a man suspects he may not share the child’s DNA.

It is vital that the advice of a Michigan attorney be sought in cases of paternity, especially when child support payments have been made for years. There are no consequences for women who commit this type of fraud. A lawyer, however, may be able to help in getting reimbursement for child support payments already made.