Marley Greiner
02-17-2004, 11:33 PM
Here's a lovely story about a vndictive daughter and her nfather's bank
account.
Marley
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-13/107703295493960.xm
l
What are limits to dad's duty? Daughter's child-support claim reaches back
two decades
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
By Doug Guthrie
The Grand Rapids Press
A Grand Rapids pharmacist, who never has met the daughter his former
girlfriend bore and raised in Florida, is being held responsible for a lump
sum child-support payment retroactive to the birth of the now 21-year-old
woman.
The total, said the man's lawyer, could exceed $100,000.
"I can't even tell you the color of her eyes," said father Kent Balliet, who
explained the girl was the offspring of a brief college fling in the spring
of 1982. Balliet, 41, said he didn't even know she was his until her
guardian-grandparents sued him from Florida in August 1998.
A blood test confirmed parentage, and Balliet made weekly $200 to $250
support payments for 3 1/2 years, until the girl graduated from Fort Myers
North High School in 2001.
Then, Heather Clough turned 18 and sued Balliet on her own. Her claim: He
owed support back to the day of her birth in January 1983.
Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by Kent County
Circuit Judge Paul Sullivan in favor of the daughter's claim. The issue of
how much is owed now likely will be set for trial in Kent County Family
Court. Judge Steven Pestka is assigned to the case.
"This is going to turn paternity cases on their heads," said Balliet's
lawyer, Amy Rademaker.
Total support would be based on Balliet's growing income since his 1990
graduation from Ferris State University's pharmacology program.
"Now, a mom can say, 'I'm not going to deal with dad, with parenting time or
any other of those troubling issues until my kid turns 18,' and she can file
a lawsuit for the total amount in bulk," Rademaker said. "It will plunge
unsuspecting men into debt. This is a crushing blow because of what it means
statewide. It's huge."
But the daughter says she doesn't care about legal precedent, only that, "I
have a father who doesn't want anything to do with me.
"I deserve a future like any other child," Clough said in a telephone
interview Monday from the duplex she shares with a friend down the street
where she grew up in her grandparents' home in Fort Myers, Fla.
"I'd much rather have had a relationship with my father, but sometimes it
can't be that way. I've never seen him, not even a picture of him. There
were times when I wondered why I didn't have a father, but I don't hate him.
I can say I sort of even understand his situation."
Strict application of the law, as in this case, means even if a mother keeps
a child secret from a father, the child's right to support from the father
cannot be severed by the mother's actions, said Kristine Mullendore, an
associate professor of legal studies at Grand Valley State University and a
former assistant Kent County prosecutor.
"Child support isn't the mother's, but the mother exercises it on behalf of
the child. Support is for the benefit of the child, not the mother,"
Mullendore said.
But child support usually is claimed while the custodial parent is bearing
the financial burden of raising the child. Clough was raised by her
grandparents, Larry and Suzane Clough, from age 5, when her mother was
declared mentally disabled. The mother also was made a ward of her parents
for medical reasons.
"I've very much always been my mother's keeper," Heather Clough said. "She
was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, but she's fine as long as she stays
on her medications. She doesn't have incidents very often, but we know her
problems always are there."
Clough's grandfather is a biomedical technician who maintains and repairs
equipment in a hospital. Her grandmother is a cosmetologist with an in-home
salon. Heather Clough said her mother, Becky Sue Clough, never married and
still lives in Fort Myers.
Clough said she was told as a child that Balliet was her father and that he
knew where she was, but he never contacted the family. However, in Florida
court action that placed her in her grandparents' care at age 5, documents
list her father as "unknown," Rademaker said.
Clough said she discovered her father's address on the Internet four years
ago and briefly exchanged e-mail messages with him. She said it appeared he
was interested in meeting her. Then, she said she received a message from
Balliet that explained their conversations had been a mistake. That's when
her grandparents filed for child support.
"I have a father who didn't want anything to do with me," Clough said. "My
mother had told me that's how it was, but I had my family who loved me. I'm
not a bitter person. Life is too short."
The law usually doesn't allow responsibility for child support to go on
forever, Mullendore said. Under paternity laws, the statute of limitations
generally caps claims at 6 years.
However, the window of opportunity for the daughter to make her claim as a
new adult was one year after turning 18, which Clough met, according to the
Court of Appeals.
"The concept that a person is responsible for child support is not new, but
the facts of this case and the timing of the claim (after Clough became an
adult) are unique," Mullendore said.
Appeals judges Jessica R. Cooper, Peter D. O'Connell and Karen Fort Hood
noted in their opinion that they cannot deny to illegitimate children a
right that is enforced by the court for legitimate children.
Clough's lawyer in Grand Rapids, Donald "Pete" Garthe, said the case simply
affirms his client's right to pursue her biological father for money he
owes.
In 1982, Clough's mother lived in Ludington, where she met Balliet. Balliet
described himself as "young and dumb."
"I really didn't break up with her. I just quit going to Ludington," Balliet
said. "She called me that summer. ... She said, 'Guess what? I'm pregnant.'
"
Balliet said he suggested a test to prove his responsibility, but never
heard from Clough again. "I figured, OK. It's not me."I would have liked to
know her," Balliet said of his daughter. "Now, I fear this is a young woman
who's mind has been poisoned. She's not looking for a father. She'd looking
for a handout."
account.
Marley
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-13/107703295493960.xm
l
What are limits to dad's duty? Daughter's child-support claim reaches back
two decades
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
By Doug Guthrie
The Grand Rapids Press
A Grand Rapids pharmacist, who never has met the daughter his former
girlfriend bore and raised in Florida, is being held responsible for a lump
sum child-support payment retroactive to the birth of the now 21-year-old
woman.
The total, said the man's lawyer, could exceed $100,000.
"I can't even tell you the color of her eyes," said father Kent Balliet, who
explained the girl was the offspring of a brief college fling in the spring
of 1982. Balliet, 41, said he didn't even know she was his until her
guardian-grandparents sued him from Florida in August 1998.
A blood test confirmed parentage, and Balliet made weekly $200 to $250
support payments for 3 1/2 years, until the girl graduated from Fort Myers
North High School in 2001.
Then, Heather Clough turned 18 and sued Balliet on her own. Her claim: He
owed support back to the day of her birth in January 1983.
Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by Kent County
Circuit Judge Paul Sullivan in favor of the daughter's claim. The issue of
how much is owed now likely will be set for trial in Kent County Family
Court. Judge Steven Pestka is assigned to the case.
"This is going to turn paternity cases on their heads," said Balliet's
lawyer, Amy Rademaker.
Total support would be based on Balliet's growing income since his 1990
graduation from Ferris State University's pharmacology program.
"Now, a mom can say, 'I'm not going to deal with dad, with parenting time or
any other of those troubling issues until my kid turns 18,' and she can file
a lawsuit for the total amount in bulk," Rademaker said. "It will plunge
unsuspecting men into debt. This is a crushing blow because of what it means
statewide. It's huge."
But the daughter says she doesn't care about legal precedent, only that, "I
have a father who doesn't want anything to do with me.
"I deserve a future like any other child," Clough said in a telephone
interview Monday from the duplex she shares with a friend down the street
where she grew up in her grandparents' home in Fort Myers, Fla.
"I'd much rather have had a relationship with my father, but sometimes it
can't be that way. I've never seen him, not even a picture of him. There
were times when I wondered why I didn't have a father, but I don't hate him.
I can say I sort of even understand his situation."
Strict application of the law, as in this case, means even if a mother keeps
a child secret from a father, the child's right to support from the father
cannot be severed by the mother's actions, said Kristine Mullendore, an
associate professor of legal studies at Grand Valley State University and a
former assistant Kent County prosecutor.
"Child support isn't the mother's, but the mother exercises it on behalf of
the child. Support is for the benefit of the child, not the mother,"
Mullendore said.
But child support usually is claimed while the custodial parent is bearing
the financial burden of raising the child. Clough was raised by her
grandparents, Larry and Suzane Clough, from age 5, when her mother was
declared mentally disabled. The mother also was made a ward of her parents
for medical reasons.
"I've very much always been my mother's keeper," Heather Clough said. "She
was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, but she's fine as long as she stays
on her medications. She doesn't have incidents very often, but we know her
problems always are there."
Clough's grandfather is a biomedical technician who maintains and repairs
equipment in a hospital. Her grandmother is a cosmetologist with an in-home
salon. Heather Clough said her mother, Becky Sue Clough, never married and
still lives in Fort Myers.
Clough said she was told as a child that Balliet was her father and that he
knew where she was, but he never contacted the family. However, in Florida
court action that placed her in her grandparents' care at age 5, documents
list her father as "unknown," Rademaker said.
Clough said she discovered her father's address on the Internet four years
ago and briefly exchanged e-mail messages with him. She said it appeared he
was interested in meeting her. Then, she said she received a message from
Balliet that explained their conversations had been a mistake. That's when
her grandparents filed for child support.
"I have a father who didn't want anything to do with me," Clough said. "My
mother had told me that's how it was, but I had my family who loved me. I'm
not a bitter person. Life is too short."
The law usually doesn't allow responsibility for child support to go on
forever, Mullendore said. Under paternity laws, the statute of limitations
generally caps claims at 6 years.
However, the window of opportunity for the daughter to make her claim as a
new adult was one year after turning 18, which Clough met, according to the
Court of Appeals.
"The concept that a person is responsible for child support is not new, but
the facts of this case and the timing of the claim (after Clough became an
adult) are unique," Mullendore said.
Appeals judges Jessica R. Cooper, Peter D. O'Connell and Karen Fort Hood
noted in their opinion that they cannot deny to illegitimate children a
right that is enforced by the court for legitimate children.
Clough's lawyer in Grand Rapids, Donald "Pete" Garthe, said the case simply
affirms his client's right to pursue her biological father for money he
owes.
In 1982, Clough's mother lived in Ludington, where she met Balliet. Balliet
described himself as "young and dumb."
"I really didn't break up with her. I just quit going to Ludington," Balliet
said. "She called me that summer. ... She said, 'Guess what? I'm pregnant.'
"
Balliet said he suggested a test to prove his responsibility, but never
heard from Clough again. "I figured, OK. It's not me."I would have liked to
know her," Balliet said of his daughter. "Now, I fear this is a young woman
who's mind has been poisoned. She's not looking for a father. She'd looking
for a handout."
