What can someone do if they have been sued for child support after 17 years?
Full Question:
Answer:
Statutes exist governing the time within a paternity claim may be brought. Typically, it is the job of legislators to create or amend statutes. The governor may urge the legislators to pass or amend certain legislation. The steps that legislation must follow from introduction to passage are set forth in the House and Senate Rules adopted for each biennium. Normally, all legislation is assigned for review by a standing committee in its house of origin. Any bill which authorizes expenditures not previously authorized within the annual budget for the fiscal year in which the expenditure is to be incurred includes a three-year fiscal projection, called a “fiscal note,” prepared by the Controller General’s Office (see Staffing).
Times and places of most committee meetings are announced in advance and posted in Legislative Hall and usually appear on the General Assembly’s web page, (http://www.legis.state.de.us/Legislature.nsf/?Opendatabase) and in the newspaper’s Legislative Record. This posting includes a listing of bills and other matters to be considered. The public may attend and normally has an opportunity to testify. If a bill has a great deal of public interest, widely publicized hearings may be held.
After a bill has been reviewed, it can be “reported” by a vote of the majority of the members of the committee and is placed on the “Ready List”. The daily agenda of bills to be considered by the entire membership of the House or Senate is developed from this list. If the majority of the committee does not agree to release the bill, it remains in committee. It cannot be considered by the full chamber except by a vote to suspend rules, or by a little used procedure known as “petitioning” which requires a majority of signatures of all members of the chamber.
Bills that have been passed are delivered to the other chamber where they follow the same procedure. When a bill reaches the full House or Senate for debate, any amendments that have been introduced are considered first and voted upon. Then the bill as amended is debated and voted by roll call in both houses. Uncontested bills or resolutions listed on a Consent Agenda can be voted on as a unit to save time.
The following Delaware statutes govern the time to bring a paternity action:
13 Del. C. § 8-606. Statute of limitations.
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section and §§ 8-607 and 8-609 of this title, a proceeding under this subchapter may be commenced at any time until the child reaches the age of majority, except as provided in §§ 501(d) and 503 of this title.
(b) A proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child having no presumed, acknowledged, adjudicated or adoptive father may be commenced at any time, even after:
(1) The child becomes an adult but only if the child initiates the proceeding; or
(2) An earlier proceeding to adjudicate paternity has been dismissed based upon the application of a statute of limitation then in effect.
(c) In a proceeding under subsection (b) of this section, the court may deny a motion for genetic testing based on principles of estoppel as established in § 8-608 of this title.
(d) This section shall not extend the time within which a right of inheritance or a right to succession may be asserted beyond the time provided by law relating to distribution and closing of decedents' estates, nor to the determination of heirship, or otherwise.
13 Del. C. § 8-607. Limitation: Child having presumed father.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a proceeding brought by a presumed father, the mother or another individual to adjudicate the parentage of a child having a presumed father must be commenced not later than 2 years after the birth of the child.
(b) A proceeding seeking to disprove the father-child relationship between a child and the child's presumed father may be maintained at any time if the Court determines that:
(1) The presumed father and the mother of the child neither cohabited nor engaged in sexual intercourse with each other during the probable time of conception; and
(2) The presumed father never openly held out the child as his own.
13 Del. C. § 8-609. Limitation: Child having acknowledged or adjudicated father.
(a) If a child has an acknowledged father, a signatory to the acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding seeking to rescind the acknowledgment or denial or challenge the paternity of the child only within the time allowed under §§ 8-307 or 8-308 of this title.
(b) If a child has an acknowledged father or an adjudicated father, an individual who is neither a signatory to the acknowledgment of paternity nor a party to the adjudication and who seeks an adjudication of paternity of the child must commence a proceeding not later than 2 years after the effective date of the acknowledgment or adjudication.
(c) A proceeding under this section is subject to the application of the principles of estoppel established in § 8-608 of this title.