NSW My child's father is not my husband.

[Pegh]

I am pregnant and the father of the child is not my husband. I do not want to abort. He is married to another woman and i do not wish to have him as my partner as well. It was a mistake. I am a permanent resident where as he is on international student visa. Will i get benefits from centrelink ? I am too afraid to ask centrelink because i feel it might hamper his student visa. Please let me know if i can get centrelink benefits without a husband.
Thank you.

 

[sammy01]

have you told your husband that he is not the father?
Look this is messy. You could 'claim' it was a one night stand and you have no idea who the father is.

 

[Pegh]

I am not married. And if i tell he is the father, will it affect his visa?

 

[Atticus]

Will i get benefits from centrelink

If the father is named on the birth certificate, Centrelink will insist that you seek child support from him or accept a lower rate of payment...

No easy choices on this one... some tough decisions to make

 

[sammy01]

Oh ok... Sorry - I read your first post to suggest you are married. Ok.

I'd encourage you to call the Child support Agency. Seek advice from a womans legal aid service.

Not sure if it will affect his visa. You can get centrelink regardless.
Look you have some ethical / moral decisons to make. So does the dad know you're pregnant?

I reckon you need to make the ethical / moral decisions based on your personal morals and let the legal consequences come what may....

I do think you need to check with centerlink. DONT STRESS. You can call them anonymously and ask for information to help guide your decisions.

 

[Bazarus]

Is the racial heritage of the father similar to your boyfriend, i.e is your boyfriend Asian and the father Nigerian?
This will raise obvious questions, why won't you consider abortion?

 

[Tim W]

1. Don't worry, Centrelink will help you, without there being any negative impact on him.
As a PR, you have the same rights in this area as a citizen.
It doesn't matter if you are married, or not married.
Centrelink has no ethical or policy opinion about the how and why of how you got pregnant.
And any trouble he has with his wife, that's on him.

2. You don't have to have a termination. No matter what he might say.
Continue the pregnancy, or don't. It's your choice.
And nobody else gets a say on that in any respect.

2a. Adoption remains an option. Your choice.
Extensive counselling happens first.

3. Yes, he has to pay Child Support. No matter what he says.
Even if he never meets or sees the child.
And he doesn't get to attach conditions to it
(so none of this "I'll pay as long as you don't tell anyone" stuff).

4. If you don't want him in your life, then that's your choice to make.
He doesn't have any "rights" here of the kind men often think they have.

5. If everyone involved in the sex that got you pregnant was consenting at the time,
then he will not get into trouble with the police or immigration.
And no, he won't get to (or be required to) stay in Australia
just because he has a child with a PR.

 

[Tim W]

Just to be clear.... when I wrote

"...Centrelink will help you..."

I was talking about the Parenting Payment, and related benefits available as a single parent.

Spousal Maintenance is a different thing, and
as @sammy01 said, is the product of a Court Order.
People sometimes get the terms mixed up.
Never having been his spouse, I'm not sure that you'd qualify.

You're all about Child Support and Parenting Payment.

 

[Atticus]

Yes, he has to pay Child Support. No matter what he says.
Even if he never meets or sees the child.
And he doesn't get to attach conditions to it
(so none of this "I'll pay as long as you don't tell anyone" stuff).

To expand .... This applies equally to you the mother as well of course in as much as non payment of child support is not a reason to prohibit the child's right to a meaningful relationship with it's father, not ethically or in the eyes of the court..... Nor can you attach conditions, eg "you can see him as long as you pay this, or do that, or don't tell anyone"

If you don't want him in your life, then that's your choice to make.
He doesn't have any "rights" here of the kind men often think they have

To expand....... As the biological father (declared,assumed or by a Section 69VA declaration of parentage ), he has the automatic right of joint parental responsibility..... He also has the right to apply for a court order to see & have ongoing contact with the child on a regular basis, sufficient to form & maintain a meaningful relationship (consistent with child's best interests).

The courts default position is that a child doe's benefit from having a meaningful relationship with both of the parents, even if one parent does not want a relationship with the other...... That would involve some amount of having the child's other parent in your life... It is every child's right.

 

[concernedfriend]

I never put my son's biological father on the birth certificate. A few months after I gave birth, I needed to apply for Government assistance while I was studying. To get the support payments, I did have to name the father (or the payment would be really low) and Centrelink were the ones who tracked him down and court ordered a DNA test. When it came back positive, child support made an assessment and it has been coming out of his pay for the last 16 years. He has never laid eyes on my son and never will.

But as other said, it will have no impact on him or his visa.