By: E.A.Putman
I wake up at 3:55 a.m. every morning. It’s not a Mark Wahlberg-style workout regimen, but a mental one. I read my bible. I strategize with points and miles. And after a long hiatus from the social media grind (pre-COVID), I try to update content for TPF. And yes, I also go to the “rags,” as the old folks say. Growing up in the MediaTakeOut era, it is what it is.
Recently, celebrity news has been buzzing about rapper Cardi B and her boyfriend, NFL player Stefon Diggs. The headlines are particularly focused on her divorce from husband rapper Offset. They also reveal that she recently gave birth to a child with Stefon Diggs who it turns also had several other women pregnant at the same time. This drama brings up some interesting questions in family law. What Happens When Pregnant and Divorcing? Let’s break them down.
Question 1: “Can I get a divorce while I am pregnant? It’s my husband’s baby, but I just don’t want to wait.”
Yes, you can absolutely file for divorce in Texas while you are pregnant. There is nothing legally stopping you from starting the process. Once you file the Original Petition for Divorce, the clock starts on a mandatory 60-day waiting period before a judge can grant the divorce
This waiting period applies to nearly all divorce cases, pregnant or not.
Nonetheless, even after the 60 days are up, a judge will almost certainly not finalize your divorce. The judge will wait until after the child is born. The main reason is that a Texas court must make orders that are in the “best interest of the child.” This includes establishing conservatorship (custody), possession schedules (visitation), child support, and medical support.
A court can’t make legally binding orders for a child who has not yet been born. Thus, the final divorce decree has to wait.
Question 2: “If I am pregnant with a baby and the father is not my husband, who will be legally recognized as the father?”
Okay, now for the really messy part. If you’re married but pregnant by another man, Texas law has a very strong opinion on the matter, and it’s called the “presumption of paternity.”
Under the Texas Family Code, if you are married when a child is born, your husband is automatically presumed to be the legal father. This presumption is so strong that it even applies if the child is born up to 301 days after the divorce is finalized. So, theoretically, you could be divorced and have a baby with a new partner 300 days later, and your ex-husband would still be presumed to be the child’s legal father.
The drama.
So, to make the biological father the legal father, you have to overcome the presumption of paternity. You have two main routes:
- A Court Battle: You can file a suit to “adjudicate paternity,” where a judge can order genetic testing and legally declare who the father is. Or, you can add the alleged father to the divorce lawsuit naming him as the father. (⚆_⚆)
- The Paperwork Path: The presumed father (your husband) signs a formal, valid “Denial of Paternity,” and the biological father signs a valid “Acknowledgment of Paternity”. When these two documents are filed correctly, they can overturn the presumption without a drawn-out court fight.
Bottom line: The court will not finalize your divorce until the paternity issue is cleared up. A judge needs to know who is legally responsible for the child before issuing final orders on support and custody.
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