The system where you get paid to lie

Submitted by David on Fri, 2009-02-06 23:48

A Toronto-area man must continue paying child support to his former wife despite DNA tests proving he is not the biological father of her 16-year-old twins, an Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled.

... In making her recent ruling, the judge referred to a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision that said if someone acts as a parent and provides support for a child during a marriage, they are obliged to continue that financial support after separation or divorce -- even if the child is not biologically theirs.

"While the failure of Ms. Cornelio to disclose to her husband the fact that she had an extramarital affair and that the twins might not be his biological children may well have been a moral wrong against Mr. Cornelio, it is a wrong that does not afford him a legal remedy to recover child support he has already paid, and that does not permit him to stop paying child support," Judge van Rensburg wrote.

Source: National Post

Don't you love the current legal climate. You can have an affair with children resulting from it, but as long as you lie about it until after the children are born, the father fool is stuck with a lifetime of child support payments.

I'm curious if there have been any situations in which the mother later married the biological father of her children - would child support payments be cut off in such circumstances?

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2009-02-07 10:03

Child support payments end when the mother remarries, regardless of who her new husband is.

David

Sat, 2009-02-07 15:57

Do you have any evidence for that?

Here's what the Government of Canada has to say for example:

14.7 The Recipient’s Remarriage or Re-partnering

The remarriage or re-partnering of the support recipient does have an effect on spousal support under the current law, but how much and when and why are less certain. There is little consensus in the decided cases. Remarriage does not mean automatic termination of spousal support, but support is often reduced or suspended or sometimes even terminated.

That's Canada. I haven't looked too deeply in the case in other countries, but here's one statement:

1. If my ex-wife gets remarried does it impact my child support?

In most cases remarriage will not have any impact on child support. The new husband is not legally responsible for the children.

Anonymous (not verified)

Mon, 2009-02-09 11:36

Your quote from 14.7 actually applies to spousal support, which is separate from child support. It makes sense that spousal support would diminish or disappear upon remarriage but the child support obligation would continue.