My answer is it can’t. Child support is based upon a legal obligation of a parent to support a child. If you’ve not been legally declared or found to be the parent by a court, or you haven’t been married to a spouse that has produced a child, then there is going to be no legal way upon which a child support obligation can be placed upon you so that you would be obliged to pay it. So you need to have some kind of legal obligation that occurs under the law or is established by law.

In the case that’s being described here, no paternity suit has ever been filed or paternity finding has been made. There has been no document signed. So if they have not been married, then that’s not a sufficient grounds to have a child support obligation imposed upon you.

If you have been married, however, then the paternity finding is not necessary, and the court can or the law can impose a child support obligation on you.

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