0% Paternity

My friend undergone DNA test with his alleged daughter. The result came out and it's negative. We know that we can ask the mother to pay for damages through court however we're aware that it's costly and a long process. Can my friend just make a written agreement with the mother to pay 50k plus the DNA test fee considering he raised the alleged daughter for about 4 years and after separation, he still gave support to the child for 2 years. Is the amount 50k plus DNA test fee reasonable? The other party think it's unreasonable so they haven't made any agreement yet.


Another question is, do the present husband of the child's mother can legally adopt the child without the consent of my friend since he is not the real father? Or, does my friend need to make a demand letter to initiate court proceedings regarding the adoption and change of surname?

Thanks!

if you do not have a court order, how can you make the mother comply with the agreement? she can just sign it then ignore your friend after. he will still have to sue her if ever.

did your friend signed the BC of the child? if this is the case, the filiation between your friend and the child should first be resolved.

What if we bargain? We'll make a notarized agreement wherein the mother will pay the agreed amount then after settlement, my friend will initiate the legal adoption. Yes, he signed the BC

Both party is in favor of written agreement instead of dealing it with the court but the other party won't agree with the amount because they said it's unreasonable. Can my friend defer the legal adoption until the mother agreed to pay?

The problem I see with your idea is not with the agreement, its with the enforcement. see, even if you have a notarized agreement, the mother can still not comply with the said agreement. you cannot just show this agreement to the authorities and they will immediately see to it that the agreement will be complied.

So if they can't comply, can my friend defer the legal adoption? Or can they proceed with the legal adoption without my friend's consent/participation?

they have to first remove your friend as the father of the child. if this is done, then your friend's consent is not required since he will no longer have any ties with the child. this will be the same scenario if your friend let the child get adopted with his consent.

imho, better to sue the mother and let her be the one to seek out of court settlement since your friend is the one who is aggrieved. seek PAO's help if your friend is an indigent.

Why would your "friend" want to adopt a child with whom he has no blood relations at all?

I think you misunderstood me. My friend was the alleged father who signed the BC. It was only this time that he discovered he was not the real father through DNA test. The present husband of the mother wants to legally adopt the child and change her surname to his.

Ah well his consent is not needed since in reality he is not the real father.

You are basically talking about leveraging this consent to extort money. If he feels aggrieved being wrongfully made to act like the child's father he should go to court.

So the other party can proceed without his participation? The DNA test is for personal use only and it cannot be used for legal purposes. Do you mean they can proceed even without a solid proof that my friend isn't the real father? My friend never give them a copy of the result.

The child is illegitimate. Sole custody and parental authority belongs to the mother and your "friend" may be subpoenaed to find out why he is withholding consent and if found to be unreasonable the court may deem this tequirement of consent substantially complied with

Alright. We'll take note of this. Thanks!

The legal recourse of your friend is to go after the biological mother legally, and if there was deceit involved (i.e. she knew he was not the father) it might even be a case of estafa

How can that be possible? She can deny it. How can the court assess if there's deceit?

Consult a lawyer.