Can my sons girlfriend parents take him to court?

Question

My son and his girlfriend are16, and have a son, he pays his own childsupport, she and my grandson every once and awhile get to come up and visit. Her parents would not let her give her give the baby my sons last name. It has really been hard . I know that is what happens when you are 16 and have a child. My son buys daipers, pays his childsupport,but she doesnt tell her parents cause they take the money. By the way she lives with them. They say, if the kids don't start doing what they want, when they want, they will take my son to court. Now, I have been saying that all along. I have been tring to get my son's butt covered since day one. But, her parents won't let them see each other, if we change the baby's last name, ect...
Can her parents have that much control???? Can they take my son to court, or does it have to be the mother of the child?

Here is the thing, they are still together. My son pays 160. a month, plus whatever his son needs. He is tring to do the right thing. But the parents are saying they can take him to court over child support. I am guessing. They will not talk to me, only through my child. I did call them and ask, nicely to talk to me, but they won't, so I don't know what to do. Anything my son does, ends up getting his girlfriend in trouble so he just goes with it, and I get so upset cause I feel my Grandson should come first.

160. is what is ordered for a 16 year old that is still in school . He does work after school and does pay his own childsupport like I said, plus the extras the 160. is what he gives her. He does feel he owes everything to his child and his girlfriend. I am very proud of my son. As a matter of fact my son pays for his girlfriends projects and school supplies, the story is crazy. My son doesn't want to hurt his girlfriend by taking her to court I try telling him its for his son, and to cover his butt. He just wont listen.

Answer 1

Well...I don't see anything that would really stand up in a court of law here.

Were they both 16 when they had sex? I am guessing no, BUT here is the one thing to watch out for. If he is older than his girlfriend, even by a little, and he was 16 and she was 15 at the time of conception then her parents can get him for Statutory Rape, even if she consented. The legal age in most states in the USA is 16.

If that is not the case, and they want to take him to court to prevent the baby's name from being changed, I don't think there is much they can do here. He pays his child support, and wants to take care of the baby (and I am assuming the mom) so if he and the mom want the baby to have his last name then that is their decision.

Her parents may just be concerned that if they don't last as a couple, and the baby has his last name, their daughter will regret changing it.

Answer 2

The short answer? No, her parents can not take your son to court. Even though she is a minor, she is the parent of the baby. The long answer...the parents are being overly controlling. You know that. I know they're young, but they are parents and I'm sure you would probably agree that they need to be able to learn to parent together without interference. Guidance, sure, but the girl's parents are out of line.

Did your son sign a voluntary admission of paternity when the baby was born? The laws vary from state to state, but generally if paternity is admitted voluntarily or through DNA testing it's up to the parents what to name the kid. Check with a lawyer; I'm sure it's not too late to rename the child if they both agree to it.

My advice would be to see if your son and his girlfriend would agree to getting a lawyer and going to court. If her parents are interfering with visitation issues and taking your grandchild's money, it can be court enforced. Yes, it can be expensive and a lengthy process (I filed for child support a year ago and STILL haven't settled everything in court yet), but it'll be worth it in the long run. Regardless of her living situation, the grandparents can't argue with a court ordered visitation and child support payment schedule. Also, I would definitely make sure that the fact that the grandparents take money meant for the grandchild is addressed in court.

I don't know the details about the girlfriend's expenses, but $160 a month seems very very low. You're a parent, so you know it's not cheap! Where I live that won't even cover a week of daycare. If child support is enforced in court, just know that your son will more than likely be ordered to pay more than that amount.

Good luck.

Just adding to this now that I see your latest response. I think your son is very responsible for taking care of his son and girlfriend. Is there any way you can convince him and her to go to court together? Going to court doesn't necessarily mean there has to be conflict. In fact, you can usually come to an agreement outside of court and just submit it to the court to make sure it's legally enforced. That's what my daughter's father and I are doing right now, and it's pretty amicable. I know I don't know all the minor details of the situation, but if the girlfriend's parents are giving you and your son a hard time about child support or visitation the courts are there for you. Good luck and, by the way, I would be VERY proud to have a son like yours.

Answer 3

My son went through this as well. Her parents can convince her to take him to court but ultimately it's her decision, UNLESS she receives public aid for the baby and then it's the states choice.
Going tyo court will not be such a bad thing. FIRST, A DMA test will be ordered, if the child is his according to the test results, The courts will make her change the babies last name. He may be ordered to pay support, which at 16 and a student I assumed will be very little. My son paid 50.00 a month, until he turned 18 and they married. (which was less then he was actually spending in diaper money). I would advise you all to only give her money in the form of a money order. BECAUSE if she files child support and he has no proof that he has ever helped her, he can be made to pay her back support from the time the child was born. I hope I didn't miss anything, Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

Answer 4

"Spiteful"? I'm sorry but did you happen to miss the fact that their daughter died? And now the only time they get to see their daughter's legacy should you deem fit to bring the child around? (Or actually think to.) They're going through two profound loses here - their daughter and their grandchild. Have a little more sympathy and understanding. You're also cutting out a great resource here. You work two jobs and go to college - also apparently dating "the brainless wonder" - what time do you really have to devote to a nine month old who needs round the clock attention? They can also use your busy schedule and whatever you call a living situation against you kiddo, it would be a good idea for you to play ball here. Before this turns into an ugly mess, or an even uglier mess, you need to talk with them out of court. I highly suggest having a sit down where you can just talk about the situation and how you would like to resolve it. Simply state that you have NO intention of cutting them out of your son's life (they're his mother's parents and the closest thing he has to her - you BETTER not cut them out without a damn good reason). You have guardianship of the child but that you would like it if you could all set up a visiting schedule that a judge would sign off on to make it legit. Try to settle this out of court like decent human beings.

Answer 5

Her parents can not have that much control. And her parents CAN take him to court, because a 16 year old is an adult in a court of law. However, they would never win the case. He pays his child support, he wants to support the baby, and his girlfriend wants him to help (at least it sounds that way). All you would have to do to win a case if it came up, is call the girlfriend as a witness, and get her to say she thinks he supports the baby just fine. Also, you could have her say that she wants to be able to see her son's father. The judge wouldn't let the parents have complete control over the baby's life.

Answer 6

She needs to decide if she is going to make her own decisions or let her parents control her. That being said, be sure that your son is paying child support with checks or other trackable source so that if it comes to court, he has the proof that he has been supporting the child. Regardless of the child's last name, if he is the father, a paternity test can be ordered by the court and HE HAS RIGHTS regardless of his age, but the big thing is PROOF of paying support.
Good luck and in most states having a baby emancipates you and you are considered a legal adult, so her parents have no legal control over her. Have you considered inviting them to live with you until they can get out on their own??

Answer 7

How about you beat them to the point? Take them to court. Both the kids are responsible for having unprotected sex.

This is a true story of my brother, and his "I dont wanna go to court" issue:

His ex wife decided she wanted to be a crack head. So my brother went and got my nephew out of the craziness and raised him alone from the time he was 10 until he was 18. My ex sister-in-law went to treatment and got all sobered up when my nephew was 16. We were all happy about that. She got so sober she got really smart. She went straight to child support and demanded my brother pay back child support saying she had my nephew all along. My Mom begged my brother to go to court and make everything legal and he refused to do it citing it would make things worse.

Had it not been for school records and a very nice set of school officials my sister-in-law would have won the case. The principals, teachers, and coaches all had to come to court and tell the mediator they had NEVER SEEN MY sister-in-law. Neighbors had to be dragged in. Our family went, her family went, church members went. IT WAS A HOT *** MESS. However it was worth it....my brother owns several properties and she could have gained no less than 300-400k.

Had he taken her to court in the first place he would not have had to pay huge legal fees or go through this with a criminal.

You need to nip this in the bud.

Answer 8

She's probably telling her parents she doesn't have any money because he hasn't paid it, and that's why she can't pay them what she owes them. She's probably blowing ALL of it on stupid nonsense. Truthfully, since THEY are the ones paying all the bills, mom and baby are living off of them, they should be the ones getting the child support. Your son would be wise to get receipts to prove he paid it. Then I'd ask your son why he's with a girl that lies and gets him in trouble, is not responsible with money, etc.

Answer 9

Any decisions regarding the babies name etc. are the young womans to make not her parents. They can do nothing in court etc. without her consent. Also they can not stop the couple from seeing or talking to each other since they have a child and need to discuss issues related to their child and they have a right to parent and be a family to the child.

Answer 10

The mam & Dad from each side could interfer to comprromise such point