View Full Version : What can I file? Can I grant grandparents custody in a will?
merrissa216
Nov 2, 2011, 05:22 PM
Hey =) I live in Ohio. I am 22 years old and I have a 2 year old little girl. Her father (my ex husband) has not seen my daughter in almowt 2 years and has not tried to contact her or even ask about her in over a year. What can I do or file for him to loose all rights to my daughter? Can I file something for him to loose them or do I have to have himn sign them over somehow like hunt him down or something. And also if I can't get him to loose rights and I wanted to right a will could I grant my parents(her grandparents) full custody of my daughter if something were to happen to me or would he still be able to get rights to her? If I grant4d them full custody in the case of my death would I have to of had him sign all rights over first? I'm pretty lost.. please help
cdad
Nov 2, 2011, 05:44 PM
None of the above is possible. You can't "will" a child to someone. Children are not property. The only way you can have his rights terminated would be through adoption. And it doesn't sound like your in a place where step parent adoption is going to take place. You have to be married first for at least a year before moving that forward.
Fr_Chuck
Nov 2, 2011, 06:26 PM
The father would have to do something that allows his rights to be taken, ( differs in different states) in some long term prison sentence, in others child abuse and so on.
But in general you can't take his rights away, He can not even sign them away unless you are remarried with a new partner to adopt.
Next no you can not "will" a chid, a child is not a thing, like a car to be given to someone. He is the father and has rights to the child, by law. At your death, the state laws on custody will be what is followed