The following is the response to a consultation I asked of a lawyer in CR. I chose to post it in a new thread rather than in an existing thread.
The "Pension" has been mentioned a few times on this board in other sections so here is some clarification.
IF you should find yourself in this situation
SEEK THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY BEFORE DOING ANYTHING !!! As can be seen there are specific instances where you can not be detained BUT this only covers my specific issue.
The only changes were for spelling and punctuation.
Quote:
Since the baby does not have your last name and both of you are not married, the Ch*ld is born and registered with just the mothers name who will have full custody.
She can not charge you Ch*ld support (Pension Alimentaria) for the Ch*ld and can not put any restriction on you leaving the country.
However if you or the mother of the Ch*ld decides to pursue any action regarding rights to the Ch*ld or Ch*ld support, either one of you may do it at any time.
You will have to begin by having a DNA test done through the courts in Costa Rica.
The DNA test will take about 4 months from the date of the petition, it will give a result of 99.9999 percent of certainty.
If the Ch*ld is yours, you will have all the rights to the Ch*ld as a parent, which includes the right of the Ch*ld to have the same surname as you, visitation rights and dual citizenship (Costa Rica/USA).
You would also have responsibilities as a parent that would include paying Ch*ld support voluntarily or through the courts.
If the mother wanted to keep you from leaving the country to avoid paying Ch*ld support she could petition the court to prevent you from leaving the country unless you deposited 13 months of Ch*ld support ahead of time.
You would not be detained unless you did not pay Ch*ld support for several months without a very good reason.
The amount of Ch*ld support can be established by mutual agreement or by court order, the judge usually takes into consideration the financial possibility of the father and the needs of the Ch*ld and the lifestyle of the family.
The Ch*ld support can also be raised and occasionally lowered than the amount established every 6 months.
The Ch*ld support amount starts at about $40 a month up to around $400 a month, average being about $100 a month.
Many times the father will financially help a lot more with the Ch*ld if there is a mutual agreement with the mother.
Legal fees for the DNA testing through the court is $600.
Legal fees for the process of paternity acceptance without DNA testing is $500
Legal fees for the registration of the surname change is $400
In my situation I am paying about $200.00 per month, voluntarily !
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