Comic Carl LaBove discovered he was not the father of the child he raised as his own. In the 80’s, Carl and Sam Kinison were good friends and did comedy tours together. Carl’s then wife had an illicit affair with Sam and became pregnant. For years Carl believed the daughter to be his and when the couple divorced he was ordered to pay child support. LaBove got behind in his payments which caused him to lose his driver’s license and seriously damaged his credit. A DNA test proved Kinison was the father of the girl, now 21. LaBove filed a petition with the court on Thursday, hoping he will be relieved of the child support payments which he has been making for 13 years.
If LaBove had hired the right divorce lawyer he may have avoided years of unnecessary support debt. One of the principle duties of a divorce proceeding is to determine how children resulting from the marriage will be supported. LaBove claims that his lawyer never advised him to challenge paternity even though his wife said the child could be Kinison’s.
Experienced divorce attorneys are vital to fair judgments in divorce proceedings as Carl LaBove is learning. Getting a divorce can bring out the worst in people because of the emotional tensions they face. Children of broken marriages deserve to be duly supported but some judgments are unjust to fathers. Without the right divorce lawyer, a father may face unjust alimony and support payments.
