So, two men are claiming to be Anna Nichole Smith's baby's daddy. (And that fact, in and of itself, is just simply mindbogglingly bizarre to me....)
A really fascinating legal situation which will, I predict, turn on a number of issues, not the least of which is: Where does she reside? Where does the baby reside? (Child was born in Bahamas- does it have dual citizenship?) Where will the case be heard?
In Alabama (The only state's laws about which I know very much....) we have a case called Ex Parte Presse which says: if you're married and give birth, only the husband has standing to challenge paternity- not the mom, not the Bio-Dad (as they refer to him in the tabloids.)
So, in Alabama, if Smith and her lawyer got married after the child's birth (and there are issues with the whole "impregnating your current client" thing, but that's for another blog....) , and the husband claimed the child as his own, meeting certain legal requirements, bio-dad would be thrown out of Court.
I was actually friends with one of the children involved in Ex Parte Presse- its a fascinating case in and of itself: Husband and wife have four children. Wife is having affair and both she, the husband, and the paramour know baby belongs to paramour- but husband is PISSED. So Pissed in fact, that he decides to claim the baby as his and GET CUSTODY.
Oh yes, CUSTODY. And because our law was written to legitimate children, only he, the husband, has standing to challenge paternity of his child- if he won't do it, no one can.
I think about that child sometimes and it reminds me of the aphorism that hard cases make bad law.
I'm also going to bet that California has some wacky child support/legitimation laws. Should be interesting if it goes down there. Of course, I always think of her as living in Texas, but then I really don't know very much about her....
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