Already submitted public trust renewal questionnaire. Had my teleconference interview. During the interview, I add my children. Question, was I supposed to also add my spouse’s child out of wedlock? We are legally married and this was a child out of wedlock. He does not have custody or relationship with child. I never met child and have no relationship either. The interviewer asked if there were any stepchildren, foster, adopted. I said no. Now I’m having doubts. It never occurred to me that I would list anyone other than my kids. I dont want it to come back that I withheld information. Should I call investigator back and provide this child’s information??? Please help. Have lots of anxiety. Everything else under my name is clean. The interview went well in that we basically just went over my questionnaire and reviewed for accuracy during interview.
You didn’t say if it was also your child with your spouse before you were married. If not, did you adopt the child? Are you a legal foster parent? If not, then this is not your child and don’t see how it would fit the criteria in the form (foster/adopted or stepchildren). If you want to mention it, by all means, do so. But the form doesn’t ask for this.
The child is legally your step-child through your marriage. It doesn’t matter if the child was born out of wedlock. The child is the child of your spouse unless your spouse gave up parental rights to have another parent adopt the child. You can call your investigator, but the report may have been already been submitted. When you don’t have information, you list what you and your spouse know. Name, DOB, POB, etc.
Yikes. Can I call investigator now or should I wait until Monday morning? Obv anxious. The interview concluded Tuesday. Think report was already submitted? If so, will I get in trouble? I can’t fix it now?
Thanks for input. It was child during the marriage unfortunately. Does that change anything? So we have children together and he has 1 child out of wedlock. We are still married. I don’t want anything coming back saying I was withholding information. I honestly didn’t think it to add to my background check for public trust renewal. It’s too late to mention it unless I call investigator
Ahhh ok. I misunderstood and thought you were no longer married. Then yeah, that’s a stepchild which needs to be reported (foster/adopted or stepchildren). Out of Wedlock is confusing. We usually just say “illegitimate.”
Is the child a US citizen? If so, probably no big deal, especially for a public trust. Call the investigator Monday and report what info you can and that you were confused by the directions. Investigator should be able to add a subject contact item to report the info. In the meantime, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this.
Crap. Am i in trouble? Interview is done. Should I call investigator asap?
What Cal said. It happens, it just needs an explanation. Technically you are the child’s step parent, unless your spouse has given up their parental rights. Your “step” status would terminate when/if the marriage terminated.
I’ve had people forget to list “half siblings” due to having no relationship with their half siblings, even though they share a biological parent. Just provide the investigator what you know (name, DOB, POB, etc) and the reason you did not list the individual.
Since (if I’m reading this correctly) this child was born outside of marriage, your marriage, you might be asked if this child’s existence could be a source of blackmail used against you.
Please wait until Monday to call your investigator. Most likely your investigator is not working on the weekend. They will need to get information from you, so wait until normal work hours.
I truly appreciate input. Because I dont have a relationship with child, no one really knows. The child is no way seen as a source of blackmail though. Ugh, will the investigator even believe me? I can already feel the judgement. Is this enough for them to determine someone is of risk?!?