I was served with child support papers. I am not the father. What should I do?

If you’ve been served with child support papers, you have 20 days to respond to the petition. Do not ignore the paperwork that was served on you.

In your answer, you should admit or deny each allegation contained in the Petition. Then you need to sign the document and send the original to the Clerk of Court and a copy to the attorney on the other side. Make sure you keep a copy of the document for your own records.

The petition will either allege that you are the father of the child or allege that you might be the father of the child. A DNA test is required if both or either party is unsure that the potential father is the actual biological father of the child. No test is required if both parties agree that the potential father is the actual biological father of the child.

If you fail to respond to the petition within the 20 day period, the other side will eventually have a default entered in the case. This has the effect of requiring the judge to treat all the allegations contained in the Petition as true. This means that the judge will determine that you are the father of the child even if there has been no DNA test.