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Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/...8_20040217.htm
Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth February 17, 2004, 2:38 PM GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's ruling that a local pharmacist owes a lump-sum child-support payment to a 21-year-old daughter he never has met and, until four years ago, did not know he had fathered. A Grand Rapids lawyer representing the father, Kent Balliet, said her client could end up owing the woman more than $100,000. "This is going to turn paternity cases on their heads," attorney Amy Rademaker said. Balliet, 41, said his daughter, Heather Clough, resulted from a brief college fling in spring 1982. He said he did not know she was his child until her maternal grandparents, who also are her legal guardians, sued him from Florida in August 1998. "I can't even tell you the color of her eyes," Balliet told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Tuesday. After a blood test confirmed that he was her biological father, Balliet made weekly child-support payments of $200 to $250 for 31/2 years until Clough graduated from Fort Myers (Fla.) North High School in 2001. Then, Clough turned 18 and sued Balliet on her own, claiming that he owed her support dating to the day of her birth in January 1983. Last week, the state appeals court affirmed a decision by Kent County Circuit Judge Paul Sullivan in favor of the daughter's claim. The issue of how much money Balliet must pay Clough probably will be determined at a hearing in Kent County Family Court. "Now, a mom can say, "I'm not going to deal with dad, with parenting time or any other of those troubling issues until my kid turns 18,' and she can file a lawsuit for the total amount in bulk," Rademaker said. "It will plunge unsuspecting men into debt. This is a crushing blow because of what it means statewide. It's huge." The law usually does not allow responsibility for child support to go on forever, said Kristine Mullendore, an associate professor of legal studies at Grand Valley State University and a former assistant Kent County prosecutor. Under paternity laws, the statute of limitations generally caps claims at 6 years. But the window of opportunity for the daughter to make her claim as a new adult was one year after turning 18, which Clough met, according to the Court of Appeals. The daughter said she is not interested in setting a legal precedent. "I'd much rather have had a relationship with my father, but sometimes it can't be that way," said Clough, who now lives in a Fort Myers duplex near her grandparents' home. "I've never seen him, not even a picture of him." She was raised by grandparents Larry and Suzane Clough from age 5, when her mother was declared mentally disabled. Becky Sue Clough was diagnosed with schizophrenia and made a ward of her parents, her daughter said. Heather Clough said she discovered her father's address on the Internet four years ago and briefly exchanged e-mail messages with him. She said it appeared for a time he was interested in meeting her. Then Balliet wrote her to say their conversations had been a mistake, she said. That was when her grandparents filed for child support. "I have a father who didn't want anything to do with me," Clough said. "My mother had told me that's how it was, but I had my family who loved me. I'm not a bitter person. Life is too short." |
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Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth
Hey, wasn't this article already posted?
T PrchrdnS wrote in message ... http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/...8_20040217.htm Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth February 17, 2004, 2:38 PM |
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Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth
Hey, wasn't this article already posted?
T PrchrdnS wrote in message ... http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/...8_20040217.htm Child-support claim of daughter, now 21, reaches back to birth February 17, 2004, 2:38 PM |
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Child-support claim of daughter, now 17.years old living in Quebec
I have a daughter that is now going to be 18 years old on June of this year.
She dosens't work or go to school. She is very lazy. The question I have is do I have to continue to pay support after the age of 18. She lives in the povince of Quebec, Canada. I await your reply.. Bob |
#5
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Child-support claim of daughter, now 17.years old living in Quebec
I have a daughter that is now going to be 18 years old on June of this year.
She dosens't work or go to school. She is very lazy. The question I have is do I have to continue to pay support after the age of 18. She lives in the povince of Quebec, Canada. I await your reply.. Bob |
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