Lying With Uncontested Divorce Florida

by Christine from Windsor, New York

My ex husband lied with our uncontested divorce. He said we did not have children. We have a daughter. At the time our daughter was 8 yrs old. Is our divorce valid?

We divorced in 1999 State of Florida. We were married for 9 years.

Answer to Florida Divorce Question

Dear Christine,

When facing a situation like this, you generally have two options.

You can carry on either as you have or you can seek legal action.

Legal action would include establishing paternity because of a faulty divorce judgment or you could petition to the court to amend the original divorce.

Your ex husband’s paternal responsibilities did not end simply because of the divorce outcome.

There are many reasons to seek paternity including the right to benefit financially from the birth father (child support), gain access to the father’s medical history, and allow your child to know who her father is and maybe learn about her father’s family.

The father can voluntarily declare paternity by signing a Declaration of Paternity (also called an Acknowledgement of Paternity), or by being present at the birth and signing the birth certificate. As long as you have either of these documents, you have sufficient proof of paternity.

If the father is unwilling to acknowledge paternity then you could seek to establish paternity via genetic paternity testing which you and your daughter must also be willing to take.

To begin a paternity case you must use the Petition for Paternity and Other Relief forms provided by the court clerk’s office or visit our Petition For Paternity page for more information.

If you seek legal action to amend the original divorce, you are seeking to ask for child support, parenting issues, or possible alimony. But I highly doubt any alimony award because of the amount of time that has passed.

Essentially, yes your divorce is still valid. You just did not build a parenting plan or set up child support arrangements. For all of these reasons and since your daughter is over 18 now, you should strongly consider consulting with an attorney for legal advice prior to petitioning the court for any past child support or future support for your daughter.

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