Legal type question

Kernel32

My brother and his wife split earlier this year. They have two young kids. They did a mediation and the end result is that he has primary custody because she wanted to live with her new boyfriend in england. As part of the agreement my brother agreed to pay his wife a sum of money. She claims she is due this money because through some very complicated moves her name and my brothers name ended up on the mortgage and deeds for my parents house. They also lived in one side of the house for the duration of the marriage, my brother and the kids remain there. He agreed to pay her the money because a)He wants her name of the house b)He just wants her out of his life. I advised him not to pay but that is his decision. As of now no money has changed hands as he is struggling to remortgage the house to pay her off.

I recently found out from a very reliable source that she is now pregnant. My brother does not know this yet. I am concerned due to the weirdness of family law in Ireland about what responsibility he has to this child if she and her boyfriend split. I have absolutely no doubt they will as she is unstable but it will be two or three years before it happens. My brother is still married to this woman, could she possibly come after him for maintenance on this child even though he is not the father?

Also, I am very torn about having this knowledge of the pregnancy and not telling my brother. On one hand its none of my business. But I feel like she will not tell him about it until she gets her money. If he knew I think he would seriously rethink paying her a penny. She has the perfect chance to tell him soon as they will be meeting to swap the kids, if she doesn't tell him then I fell I should, but is it my place to do that? All I want is what is best for the kids and my brother.

Nevyn

If they are still married then yes under irish law it is assumed the child is his
unless he takes steps to point out that it is not.

I have seen this in hospitals when the wards clerical officer comes arround to
get the details of the mothers in the ward.
Those that are married are asked to confirm the details of the childs name,
thier name and addres and that of thier husbands.
Those that are not married get given a leaflet about how to go about
registering thier childs birth.

It could be well that his wife whom he is seperated from will endeavour to make
sure the correct details are on her childs birth cert.
But he will need to know and to be sure that he is not made legally
responsible for a child that is not his and have the hassle of a paterinty
test to sort this out.
This child will be a half sibling of his own children and be in thier lives.

He may also want to see about getting the children someone to talk
to about all of this if he has not had them with a cousellor already.
The questions of 'Why did mammy leave and then have more children,
are we not enough, does mammy not love us any more cos she has a new baby' will be hard.

In reguards to the house,
well getting her name of the deeds would be a good move tbh.
Other wise legally she can try and return to live there.
She cant be removed/kicked out of a property she part owns.
Heaven forbid she tries that with the new baby intow.
Adn if the lump sum means she can get her own place for her and this child
and his kids can maybe visit there it may not be a bad thing.

So yes your brother needs to know.
But she should tell him, maybe she is afriad too, maybe she is worried
about the impact on him and the other children.
Miscarriages can happen up until the 5mnth, in some places the UK will do
terminations up until 5 mnth so maybe she has not yet decided what to do.

HE should also look at getting a legal speration asap and be moving towards
divorce.

Kernel32

Thaed,

thanks for the reply. I am trying to find an irish website that details the legal aspect of responsibilities he has to the new child do you have any links?

Talliesin

If she is moving to England she might have the child there, which could mean that English law applies as to assumptions of paternity.

Nevyn

http://indigo.ie/~kwood/acts.htm

http://www.irishlawyers.ie/contact.php


http://www.irishhealth.com/?level=4&id=2496

Legal situation

In Ireland, the Status of Children Act maintains that children are the offspring of their mother's husband unless it is proved otherwise. But for unmarried parents, there is the need to establish parentage. If an unmarried mother names a man as the father of her child on the birth certificate, she can then attempt to obtain maintenance from him in the family law courts. Equally, a man who suspects that he is the father of a particular child may find that the mother is unwilling to have him involved, especially if she is in an antagonistic relationship with him or is married to someone else.

Until recently, paternity testing was usually performed outside of Ireland. However, it is more available in Ireland now and has been provided at the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin for over 18 months. While the general public can seek a test, most referrals come from family doctors or solicitors. The clinic works to a probability level of 99%, which is accepted by the courts in Ireland and elsewhere as the legal standard of proof. Test results will always go back via a GP or solicitor.

UK law stuff

http://www.fnf.org.uk/pater.htm

luckat

Yikes, poor child.

foxinsocks

well, I was coming at this from a slightly different angle, but i'll tell you what we went through.

After breaking up with my husband, i shacked up with a bloke i met on the internet (/wave ButcherofNog) and astonishingly i got pregnant. Now, in order for his name to be put on the birth certificate of our child (now 2 and a half) I had to get a legal form from my solicitor, and have my husband basically say that he was not the father. His signature had to be witnessed by a justice of the peace type person. Then i had to send that form along with the rest of the registration documents in order to get her birth certificate.

In ireland, it will always be assumed that the husband is the father of the child, unless the mother claims otherwise, and the husband signs this document thing... I would imagine that if she claims that the baby is his, and he (rightfully) claims that it isnt, then a paternity test will conclude the matter.

I doubt her new boyfriend will want someone else as the child's legal daddy, unless he's about to bugger off...

The law surrounding these matters is changing all the time... up until relatively recently if the father of the baby was married to someone else (not the mother) then it was illegal to put his name on the birth certificate, even if the father wanted it.

As to telling your brother or not... If you do not tell your brother, and he finds out later that you knew, then that will cause a lot of bother... On the other hand, its not really your place to interfere in their relationship, even if they have split up. Good luck with it all.

Fox_in_Socks