Divorces can get ugly, especially when there are children involved. A man in Wisconsin unfortunately didn’t realize there were children involved in his divorce until after everything was finalized and a year had passed. “She was pregnant while we were married but lied on the divorce papers saying she wasn’t,” the ex-husband explains. Now, all of a sudden, the ex-wife texts him out of the blue, claiming that she’s getting served a warrant to establish paternity. She even hired a private investigator to threaten him if he didn’t admit to being the father and likely, in turn, provide child support for his alleged child.
“I’m going to go to jail if I don’t cooperate with him,” the ex-husband says worriedly. Scare tactic or not, being threatened with jail time is a frightening thing, especially when the opposing party acts like they have the upper hand. Unsure of how he’s supposed to proceed with his shady ex-wife and intimidating private investigator, the Wisconsin man has posted his concern to Reddit, asking for advice on what to do. The top comment gives the most simple yet solid advice: “Hire a lawyer. All communication goes through your lawyer.” You’d think it would end there with the best suggestion, but people continued to add their thoughts in the comments.
“The end result of all this is probably a paternity test. And then that’s a binary; either you are, or are not, the biological father,” remarks a commenter. This much is true, “but the consequences of being the biological father are not binary. Which is a reason to have a lawyer,” chimes in another Redditor. What some believe — as do I — is that the boyfriend and ex-wife are scheming against the ex-husband to get him to pay support for their baby. Why else would the woman lie on the divorce papers even though the other man is on the birth certificate, as OP claims?
Whatever the case, many Reddit users agree that the Wisconsin ex-husband has little choice but to go through with the paternity. If he’s in the clear, then he’s in the clear. It’s as simple as that. However, if not, then a lawyer would be very beneficial for any legal matters that ensue.
