It's no secret that fathers who were not married to their children's mothers when their children were born will likely have to prove paternity before they can get child custody or visitation rights. In a highly unusual case out of Illinois, however, one man who did prove paternity of his son was still denied visitation rights.

According to reports, the man engaged in a five-year affair with a married woman that ultimately produced a son. After the extramarital relationship broke up in 1998, the biological father filed a paternity case, seeking to establish visitation rights.

The woman ultimately told her husband about the affair shortly before the man filed the paternity case. Here, the married couple not only stayed together but sought to adopt the boy when he was still an infant.

The boy's adoption case was put on hold by the state court, however, until the paternity case was resolved.

While the man proved that he was the boy's biological father, the court ultimately denied visitation rights last year, saying that learning about his biological father would "seriously endanger" the boy.

The case bounced around the courts for more than 12 years, going to the appellate court five times and even up to the Supreme Court of Illinois. The boy, who was 3 years old when the litigation started, is now 16. In two years, when he turns 18, the courts can no longer prevent his biological father from contacting him, and he is likely to then learn the truth.

The courts have disagreed on the motives of the people involved. The state Supreme Court said that the married couple started the adoption proceedings to "thwart" the biological father's claim. An appellate court, though, blamed the biological father, saying he only wanted to "punish" the mother for breaking off their affair. Meanwhile, many mental health experts believe that, in general, it is better for parents to simply tell their children the truth.

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If you are currently involved in a child custody dispute or would like more information regarding paternity or visitation rights, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced legal professional.

This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.

Source:

The Chicago Tribune, "In paternity dispute, family can withhold biological father's identity from teen, court rules" Jan. 2, 2012