Rights of the child
October 3, 2009 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
As my case is the following and really worries me. I have a child with a man from the Dominican Republic. We are not married. He was convicted and deported from Germany for robbery and extortion against me. I have sole custody and he has never been acknowledged as the father. Now, after 3 years, he has contacted me again and wants to see the child. I think he is doing this because he wants rights to my child and custody. Can he force a paternity test? I do not receive any support from him and do not want any either. I also do not want any contact with him because he is very violent and has even killed someone in his home country. His probation in Germany is also ending in February. I am afraid he will kidnap my child or send someone he knows from prison. He only has the address and phone number of my father, not mine. I am afraid of him and do not know what his intentions are. Does he have a chance to force a paternity test to establish him as the father? I do not know what steps I can take against him to protect my child. As I mentioned, we are not married and he has not been acknowledged as the father anywhere.
Kind regards.
Dear seeker of advice,
thank you for your inquiry!
Taking your information into account, I am happy to summarize and answer your questions as follows:
Basically, the biological father of the child has a legal right to establish paternity, which can be enforced through legal means if necessary. This right is derived from § 1598a BGB, which I have attached below for your better understanding:
§ 1598a BGB
Right to consent to a genetic test to clarify biological descent
(1) To clarify the biological descent of the child,
1. the father can demand a genetic descent test from both the mother and the child,
2. the mother can demand a genetic descent test from both the father and the child, and
3. the child can demand a genetic descent test from both parents,
and they must consent to the genetic descent test and allow the taking of a suitable genetic sample for the test. The sample must be taken according to recognized scientific principles.
(2) Upon request of a party entitled to clarification, the family court can replace a refused consent and order the taking of a sample.
(3) The court suspends the procedure if and as long as the clarification of the biological descent would significantly impair the well-being of the minor child, which would also be unreasonable for the child considering the interests of the party entitled to clarification.
(4) Any party who has consented to a genetic descent test and provided a genetic sample can request access to the descent report or a copy from the party entitled to clarification who has carried out the descent test. Disputes arising from the right in sentence 1 are decided by the family court.
However, in your case, there is a particular circumstance that is likely to prevent such a procedure. The father of the child is a criminal and has been deported from Germany.
He is not allowed to stay in Germany. If he were to come to Germany for a court proceeding, i.e., to stay in Germany, he will likely be deported again before the proceedings can take place.
I hope that my explanations have been helpful to you. You are welcome to contact me within the framework of the follow-up option on this portal or via my email address.
I would like to point out the following to you: The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
Have a nice weekend!
Best regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney-at-Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax. 0471/57774
