sorry, just want to elaborate now that i'm not feeding DD
Centrelink will expect you to have a meeting with a social worker to discuss paternity unknown - it is up to the social worker to put a maintenance exemption on your file - if there is reason to believe you may know who the father is, you will be expected to follow up with legal aid to have paternity testing carried out.
keep in mind that,if his wife does find out, and decides to be a vengeful person, all it takes is a phone call to C'link to notify that you know of paternity. anyone who knows of your situation can "dob you in".
the federal government (rightly so) have set out to make sure that the wellbeing of children is seen to by BOTH parents. for some, where violence etc is involved, it removes the person from the picture altogether - but in situations such as this, it really is a case of this man being financially responsible for his child.
having said this, i was referring to shared care etc. if the grandmother finds out, she can take you to mediation and on to court to be granted access to her grandchild. extended family have been given legal rights to have access to children and, no matter the relationship between you and dad, she can fight for it.there is a hell of a lot to take into account when deciding custody IF he got narky with you (and it has to be him - nothing the rest of them can do to be honest).
good luck making your decision
BG





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