Question: What factors are used to determine retroactive child support in a paternity case?

Answer:   In a paternity case, the court has wide discretion to determine if back child support would be paid. The questions for the mother would involve if she made the father aware of the child, invited him to the hospital for the birth, contacted him for help, etc. Questions for the father involve his knowledge of the birth of the child, whether he had a reasonable belief that the woman had other boyfriends and if he can be humble in court. If he is found to be the father, he can be ordered to pay prenatal and postnatal care for mom, as well as costs of delivery.