Texas fans of Mets player Jose Reyes may have heard that in addition to the three children he has with his wife, he has a daughter with another woman. She has filed a suit against Reyes alleging that he is not paying her the 17 percent of his income in child support that the law requires.

However, according to her attorney, the primary issue is the alleged failure of Reyes to have contact with his daughter. The attorney says that they would ask for less money if this were not the case. The attorney also said that the child would like to have contact with Reyes’ other daughters. A court date has been set for March 22.

Reyes also made the news on family-related issues in 2015 when he was taken into custody on charges of domestic abuse. However, the charges were dropped when his wife declined to pursue the case.

Child support, custody and visitation are all issues that may arise in a divorce or in a case like that of Reyes, when people have a child with someone they are not married to. Parents are required to financially support their child regardless of the relationship they have with the other parent. Furthermore, if the noncustodial parent has visitation rights and is not paying child support, this is not supposed to have an impact on their ability to see their child. A parent who is struggling to collect child support should go through the legal system. There are a number of steps that may be taken by a child support enforcement agency to compel a parent to pay support that that is owed. If parents who pay support needs to change the amount they owe, they can go to court and request a modification.

Source: Sports Illustrated, “Jose Reyes sued by ex-mistress for child support“, March 14, 2017

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