Custody Issue- - Grosse Ile,MI

If he is the biological father, those test results (if they meet the state's criteria for validity) will establish paternity. If they're judged not admissible, his lawyer will petition for a court-ordered test, the test will be done, the results will be admitted into court and he will be adjudicated paternity (meaning that legally, he will be recognized as the father). Assuming that all of that happens, part of the judgment of paternity includes and option to amend the birth certificate to include him, but that's just a formality.

Along with requesting a judgment for paternity, the attorney will petition the court for custody, visitation and child support. Custody will be granted based on the best interests of the child. In this case, where there has not been a steady relationship since birth, joint physical custody would be possible but not likely. He would likely be granted joint legal custody as well as visitation (which the parents will have to work out) and then that would inform the child support arrangement. Every state differs in default custody arrangements and child support guidelines, but that's generally how things go.

Once he has paternity established and a visitation schedule in place, if the mother denies him visitation, he can file a complaint for contempt and drag her back to court, where she will be ordered to comply with the order.

Best of luck to your BIL. It's a shame that he didn't re-test a couple of years ago but better late than never.

He needs to take that paternity test to the court and get visitation ordered. Not just for his own sake, but for his child. The mom sounds like a piece of work, but I'm glad he's going to court to see his son.

Also suggest he visit a site like deltabravo.com for dad advice.

He needs to make sure he has a good lawyer on his side. Chances are good that with a mother like this, she will sue for back child support. Even though the paternity test originally showed the baby wasn't his, it doesn't matter. He will still owe the money. He needs a lawyer on his side to sue for immediate custody of the child (even if it's every other weekend or whatever your BIL would like) and iron out some kind of child support arrangement before the mother goes nuts and sues him for it. The courts tend to take a dim view of "delinquent" dads, even if it's not the dad's fault! We have a friend who just went through something similar, and a good lawyer is the only thing that saved him. Good luck to your family on this!

If he truly is the father, then he needs a good attorney. There's no reason to believe he wouldn't be granted some sort of custody or visitation if he's the father. Having a binding, legal agreement is the key here!

It's very positive for him that he is the one initiating it then. It will mean that he should get good visitation/custody arrangement as long as there is nothing super negative she can use against him. He just needs a good attorney to show that he wants to be in his life. When he gets a custody order, make sure he uses his visitation to it's fullest and that all possible changes to visitation, he requests IN WRITING (write an e-mail at LEAST). That way if he has to miss a day because of a meeting, he can show an attempt to re-arrange with the mother, even if she denies. Then the "he never uses his visitation" can't be used against him. He can also file contempt of court if she refuses visitation or regular contact. My court order also requires that the other parent be allowed to make phone calls to the kids up to a certain time each day of the week.

The court will probably require a DNA test. Once that confirms he's the father, then the court will address the issues of child custody, visitation and support.