questions & answers

Question: I and my ex girlfriend are both minors, at the age of 16. Now, after a month of being broken up she has told me that she is pregnant. She has had this confirmed by the doctor and is now saying that she is going to need child support from me; furthermore,if I don't give the money to her she will get a court order. Do I have any right to deny the possibility that the child is mine, or deny paying child support? I am unemployed and my legal guardian is as well; we live off of my mothers child support for her own kids.

Answer:

- Generally, to determine whether a person is the father/mother of a child, a paternity proceeding can be done. A proceeding to establish maternity or paternity of a child…and to compel support…may be commenced by the mother, father, guardian, state, etc.  ARS 25-803. For more information on Paternity proceedings and laws, see Chapter 6 of ARS 25, here .

When dealing with Child Support, the articles here and here  provide very helpful information on the issue that may be very useful. Also, there are some factors that may help the court determine if or how much a person is to pay for child support, see ARS 25-320. Some guidelines the court uses may include: The financial resources and needs of the child; the financial resources and needs of the custodial parent and noncustodial parent etc., see ARS 25-320(D)(1-8).