Child Support for baby not living in the Philippines

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but I hope someone can shed some light on some issues I'm facing.

I am a Malaysian living in Malaysia. My partner who is a Norwegian resides in the Philippines. We had a daughter 6 months ago (born in Malaysia) but he has never acknowledge the birth of his daughter up to this very day. I have been independently supporting my child from the day she was born.

Can I serve him a demand for child support even though I am a Malaysian not living in the Philippines?

Thanks.

I can only answer from the standpoint of Philippine law. Deprivation of support is considered a criminal act, but filiation between the father and the child has to be established.

you can certainly send him a letter demanding support, but if he ignores it, your remedy would be to file a petition for filiation and support here in the philippines.

the father does not travel to malaysia?

Thanks atty for your quick reply.

That is what I am intending to do - to seek and engage a local attorney to handle my case. It is good to know that I do have the rights to demand for child support.

No, the father no longer travels to Malaysia. We were never married, and even though we had a "good relationsip" he stopped visiting once he found out I was pregnant with his child.

Is there any chance that he can ignore the petition (I have sent him numerous e-mails in the past without getting any reply), and if I may even ask, what are the chances of me succesfully getting him to pay for child support?

Thanks a lot.

Maybe this is of no significance but might be of worth to note: the father "resides" in the Philippines (has a permanent address and is self-employed) but is under the normal tourist visa - meaning he needs to do a visa run every 3 / 4 weeks or so.

I would recommend you first engage a philippine lawyer to write him a letter rather than file a petition immediately so that hopefully you can get an out of court arrangement.

Hi Atty. Thanks again for your help.

One more thing: Once paternity has been established, would I be able to get him to sign an affidavit of agreement to acknowledge that he is father (and would this be recognized in Malaysia)? Also, would he be granted automatic visitation/custody rights or are both cases (child support and child custody) independent of each other?

Thanks

i'm afraid i cannot speak regarding what will be recognized under malaysian law. and the requirements for filiation may also be different under malaysian law. (and norwegian law also)

Hi Atty, thanks for clarification.

What about child custody, though? If paternity is proven, would he automatically be granted visitation rights, or would he have to contest for that too?