My wife babydaddy in jail for a long time. I signed the birth certificate to his...

I think this question is a joke, but no. Signing a birth certificate doesn't make you responsible for anything. If you separated and she filed for child support, you would be forced to take a paternity test.
 
You committed a crime (fraud) when you knowingly signed a birth certificate declaring that to be your child when you knew he had a biological father who was in jail. And until a court rules that you are the daddy (through a dna paternity test), you are not the legal father, even though you signed that birth certificate. The courts may permit you to pay child support, they may even demand it, but unless you can prove you are the biological father, you will never be awarded visitation, much less custody.

Also, the mother of the child can deny your paternity at any time by calling for a dna test. You would have gotten attached to the child, perhaps even paying for his expenses, and then when she found a new man, you get kicked to the curb with no rights at all. Not only that but the father of that child can report you to the authorities for falsely signing a birth certificate when you knew he was the father.

Get a lawyer and get your name removed from the birth certificate. You know you have no right to that child so you had better get your name removed now before they make you pay support anyway, while denying you any rights over the child (and yes, that has happened before). Good luck.
 
Signing the birth certificate does not make you liable for child support if the child is not yours.

BUT..... Acting, over a period of time, as a father, can make you liable in some States. If you raise the kid as your own and accept responsibility for the cost of doing so, then in some States a court can continue to hold you responsible if the two of you separate.

Hint.... have your wife file a child support case against the biological father. Even though he's in prison and has nothing to pay, that will put him on record as being the one who is responsible.

Edit... you also said this was your *wife's* child... In many States, a child born to a married woman is legally her husbands child unless he files a formal objection within a short period of time.

Richard
 
That is not my area of law, but I am pretty sure I have heard about a case like your's were the "father" was compelled to pay child support under the theory that he assumed responsibility when he knowingly signed the birth certificate. I'd suggest you browse one of those "men's rights" web sites. In general they are crap, but this is the kind of issue they are likely to actually have good info on.
 
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