Manhattan Banker Petitions To Undo Adoption To Avoid Child Support

Man Tries To Undo Adoption To Avoid Child Support

SMH. This guy’s a real winner. Robert Roever, president of Capitoline Advisers in Manhattan is trying to disown the adopted son he’s cared for since the child was just a baby — even going so far as to petition to undo the adoption process that was completed in 2011. The reason? According to Michael Stutman, the lawyer for his estranged wife Alisa Cawley, Roever is looking to duck paying child support as the former couple moves forward with their divorce.

According to NY Post reports, Cawley, 44, is a former model who had her son with another man, but says Roever raised him as his own from the time he was 4-months-old and was even the one to initiate adoption proceedings in Manhattan Family Court after the pair married.

“It was his idea. He said, ‘I want him to be my son,’ ” Cawley recalled.

“Now he doesn’t want to see him,” Cawley said, accusing Robert of blocking text messages from the boy. “He texts all the time saying, ‘I miss you dad. I want to see you dad.’ ”

Roever, 58, told The Post Wednesday he believes the adoption was a product of “fraud.”

“I feel bad,” he admitted.

But he claims Cawley tricked him into believing she didn’t know who the boy’s biological dad was. On May 6, he filed court papers asking the adoption to be undone.

He also had a friend of the couple sign an affidavit in May saying that Cawley said she was receiving child support from the biological dad. Cawley lawyer Jason Advocate said that was “absolutely untrue,” and was already rejected by the judge.

On Wednesday, Stutman asked Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lori Sattler to toss Roever in jail for paying only $1,200 or 1.5 percent of court-ordered child support for the last 17 months.

Roever offered Cawley $2,000 and asked the judge to allow him another month to pay the balance, around $20,000.

“You’re not understanding the severity of this particular motion,” the judge said. “They’re asking you to be sent to jail because I have issued an order and you have not complied with that order.”

The judge is playing no games. If Roever doesn’t pay up by November 22nd he will be jailed for the holidays.

“The only good thing is that when we show up on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving [and Roever doesn’t pay] he’ll be eating turkey courtesy of the City of New York,” Stutman said.

“The only way this man is going to pay any money is when he’s looking at the handcuffs.”

We’re not ones to say what anyone can or can’t afford but Cawley’s lawyer says Roever lives in a Tribeca loft and the application he filled out to rent it says he makes $300K a year.

Do you think he should have to pay up? We’re barely fazed about the money — we’re more concerned about the poor kid. Regardless of how Roever feels about his mom, it’s sad he’s losing the only dad he’s ever known through no fault of his own.

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