A Montgomery County man is being sued for $189,000 in back-owed child support for a son who has just turned 18. The father says he attempted to establish paternity when the boy was younger, but the child’s mother fled to avoid contact. The child support case is very unusual because the man being sued is a family law judge.
The boy’s mother, who lives in Hunt County, claims the child’s biological father never acknowledged the boy or paid formal support. The complaint conflicts with a previous court deposition given by the mother, in which she told the child’s natural father to stay out of her son’s life.
Through his attorney, the judge stated that he has tried to establish regular contact with the boy and has met with him at least once. A paternity test last December proved the boy was the judge’s son, but the teenager’s mother has allegedly refused to allow the relationship to grow.
The family law judge reportedly has paid the boy’s mother $1,100 in voluntary monthly child support.
In the 1990s, the boy’s mother filed paperwork with the Texas Attorney General’s office listing the father of her child as the biological father. The mother also stated that she planned to have her fiancé adopt the child once the couple married. The biological father readily agreed to move forward with a paternity suit, but the mother fled. The state dropped the case.
The judge’s attorney believes the couple never married and no adoption papers were ever filed.
The boy, who became a legal adult in June, is a senior in high school. Despite the current court proceedings over past child support, the teenager is legally free to decide for himself what kind of relationship he wishes to have with his biological father.
Source: The Magnolia Potpourri, “Judge’s child support lawsuit starts Tuesday,” Nancy Flake, Aug. 29, 2011