Parents - how do we enforce action on a Dad who refuses to be?

The cynical part of me would advise you to hire a cut throat lawyer and pay him with a percentage of the damages. If he doesn't win the case, he doesn't get paid. I don't know if HK laws allows for that sort of thing though, or if seeking such damages is even possible here.


I bet, though, that Mr Deadbeat has the good lawyers in his pocket.

If he really is such a tight fisted and emotionally frigid loser perhaps the best thing to do is to cut your losses and move on. I know in principle the dad should pay but he doesn't seem to be the kind of person one would want to know anyway. Just move on.



"The damage this must be doing to them is unimaginable..."


I don't agree. If the mother moves on and doesn't make a big deal out of their parentage the children can grow up to be perfectly healthy emotionally. A good friend of mine had a son with a deadbeat (albeit not rich) guy. She now has full custody and has given up on demanding support. The kid is perfectly fine. He is much more healthy with just a level headed single mother than with the cloud of a deadbeat dad hanging over his head.

I don't know ahte to advise you when it comes to legal action, but I agree the kids must suffer from being rejected by their own father, or eventually will. Every child wants recognition, (even, I've noticed from a friend, from a violent father who keeps telling them they are useless and stupid). They might learn to live without it, but there will always be something missing. I feel for them and their mum and i wish there was something I could do.

Flashback's advice seems a good one, but be careful about naming and shaming (which you have been careful about in this post)

Try the legal advice section, perhaps?