Daddy Nobucks: When Involuntary Fathers Are Forced to Foot The Bill
The fraud cry sounds good and feels even better to cry, but it has real problems, IMHO. You have an innocent kid and two parties unequally able to contribute.
Lawyers call similar situations something like “The Deep Pocket Rule”:
+++++++
When tort defendants are held jointly and severally liable, the total of all damages is payable by each defendant without regard to each defendant’s individually assigned degree of fault. Because this rule allows plaintiffs to seek out defendants who may be minimally liable but have substantial assets, it is often referred to as the “deep pocket” rule. In contrast, the rule of proportionate or several liability is a legal concept that limits each defendant’s liability to the amount of damages caused by the proportion of each defendant’s fault.
+++++++
http://www.gcglaw.com/resources/govt/deep_pockets_hb143.html
The current practice here is essentially identical to holding both parties to the conception “jointly and severally liable” instead of proportionately.
If one supports tort revision of the “Deep Pocket Rule”, then one should support the same fix here.
