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Groovybeth · May 25, 2011, 08:03 PM

My son is almost 6. His bio-father and I split before he was born. I got with my boyfriend when my son was 8-10 months old. Father had little to nothing to do with son for first 2-3 years. To make the long story shomewhat short, bio-father hasn't seen son in over a year. No child support for almost a year. We have to go to child support court tomorrow morning for contempt? We had a contempt hearing last year and I asked the judge to allow him more time since he was unemployed and had another family to provide for. The judge granted it. He made 2 payments during that time then stopped. Anyway, I live in TN. My son has tenncare that we rarely use. Is my sons bio-father allowed to just terminate his rights if I agree so he can get on with his life and my son and I do the same? Or, does someone have to take on those right? I am not married to my boyfriend but we have lived together with my son for 5 years. My boyfiend and I also have a 4 year old son together. Any help would be great! I feel bad for the guy because he was 18 and I was 17 when we got pregnant. We Dated all through high school. He has another life now. My son and I are better off without his help :)

joypulv · May 26, 2011, 06:00 AM

Read ALL the posts in bold at the top of this page.
No parent in the US 'gives up parental rights' unless he or she is signing papers for someone else to adopt.
You have enabled a now 24 year old man. How many children does he have already at that young age, and is not supporting?
Leave the support order as is. You may need it someday!
Your current boyfriend has no obligation to the 6 year old.

J_9 · May 26, 2011, 06:10 AM

Actually, in the State of Tennessee, a child can be considered abandoned after 4 short months of no contact or support from the genetic parent.

A court may terminate the parental rights of a parent for abondonment of a child upon the petirion of private indiuduals, Abandonmant is defined as the willful to provide support or visit a child for four (4) Consecutive months.

You can read it here... http://www.parentalrightsandjustice....roposal_v1.pdf

J_9 · May 26, 2011, 06:20 AM

We have "Ask a Lawyer Wednesday" on one of our local morning drive time radio shows and this question was brought up. 4 months was the answer given to the caller.

Here is a link to the TCA

36-1-102. Part definitions. —

kcomissiong · May 26, 2011, 07:06 AM

J_9, from what I read in the link you provided (the second) it still seems that the termination of parental rights is to pave the pay for adoptions. (I haven't used the quote feature before so if I screw it up, I'm sorry)

(1) (A) For purposes of terminating the parental or guardian rights of parent(s) or guardian(s) of a child to that child in order to make that child available for adoption, â€œabandonmentâ€ means that:

(I) For a period of four (4) consecutive months immediately preceding the filing of a proceeding or pleading to terminate the parental rights of the parent(s) or guardian(s) of the child who is the subject of the petition for termination of parental rights or adoption, that the parent(s) or guardian(s) either have willfully failed to visit or have willfully failed to support or have willfully failed to make reasonable payments toward the support of the child;

It seems against the spirit of this law that Tennessee would allow a TPR with no pending adoption. If it were that easy, a lot of parent's would just ignore their children for four months to force the TPR. From what I have read, it seems that this applies to an involuntary TPR to facilitate a pending adoption. In that case, the OP would still need to get married (I'm not sure the length of time though), and she and her husband have to petition for a step-parent adoption. She can use the father's abandonment as grounds for an involuntary TPR.

As a side note to the OP, please do not enable this man to evade his parental responsibilities. You were just as young as he was, but you have taken the full weight of your choices. He needs to do the same. Furthermore, your son has a right to know his father and receive support from him.

J_9 · May 26, 2011, 07:16 AM

Please forgive me as I have been up all night at work and am ready to go to bed, but I see what you are saying. I will have to dig further when I am more alert.

I wish I could remember the name of the law firm that was on the morning drive radio show. They have a website outlining this.

kcomissiong · May 26, 2011, 07:24 AM

From my typos, it is clear that I need to join you in the exhausted boat!

J_9 · May 26, 2011, 07:28 AM

Okay, let me try again, then I'm going to have a threesome with my pillow, sheets, and blanket.

Terminating Parental Rights

A mother or father’s parental rights may be either voluntarily or involuntarily terminated for a variety of reasons in Tennessee. When the decision is made to voluntarily terminate parental rights, it is typically to make way for adoption. However, when parental rights are involuntarily terminated, it is generally because abuse, neglect or abandonment is present. A parent can also lose their parental rights if they fail to pay child support as ordered by the family law courts or they are deemed to be unfit parent.

Tennessee Terminating Parental Rights Lawyer| Family Law Attorney in Tennessee

So, typically it is to clear the way for adoption, but there are exceptions.

joypulv · May 26, 2011, 08:03 AM

And I didn't do the research because I just wanted this young man to be responsible.

kcomissiong · May 26, 2011, 08:11 AM

... In a perfect world...

J_9 · May 26, 2011, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by joypulv

And I didn't do the research because I just wanted this young man to be responsible.

That would be nice if life was so simple. And since this is the legal board, we have to be accurate no matter our feelings. Feelings do not have anything to do with Law.