LEGAL AID: My ex-lover is married but wants child support

She keeps on texting me threatening to sue for child support, although there is no proof that the first child is mine. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • To settle the issue, you will need to take a paternity test, assuming that the woman is willing to cooperate.
  • However, you will need to be cognisant of the legal implications of going this route.
  • If the test turns out positive, you might be required to take up parental responsibility depending on the woman’s course of action.
  • Do you have a legal problem you would like addressed by a lawyer? Please email your queries to [email protected]  

Dear Eric,

I got intimate with a lady 10 years ago who claimed to have conceived but after a month, she got married to a different man. She gave birth to the child she had claimed was mine and they got one more so now they have two children.  

My problem now is that as much as I try to advise this lady to respect and stay with her husband whom she accuses of being abusive, she keeps on texting me threatening to sue for child support, although there is no proof that the first child is mine.

How can I stop her legally from these threats?

Regards,

Mose

  

Dear Mose,

You have a dilemma which has both legal and social implications. The two are different and my response will consider the legal aspects that can help you deal with the social concerns. 

To begin with, there is a probability that you are the biological father of the child considering you were intimate even though she got married to another man a month later.

To settle the issue, you will need to take a paternity test, assuming that the woman is willing to cooperate. However, you will need to be cognisant of the legal implications of going this route.

If the test turns out positive, you might be required to take up parental responsibility depending on the woman’s course of action.

Avenues to explore

On the issue of threats, with or without the question of child paternity, various avenues exist for you to explore. The first is your initiative to caution the lady from threatening you.

Second, should this persist and you feel uncomfortable, then you can make an official complaint with the police.   

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Eric Mukoya is the Executive Director, Legal Resources Foundation Trust. Do you have a legal problem you would like addressed by a lawyer? Please email your queries to [email protected]