Terminating Parental Rights

Perhaps this can explain better than I.

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Originally Posted by artlady

Terminating Parental Rights

Perhaps this can explain better than I.

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Thanks, off to check -

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Originally Posted by GV70

GV70 disagrees: wow-once more-give us some examples,please!

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The examples are my sister, Kristy (name changed) and her daughters Tiff and Sam. They have both since been adopted in New Jersey by my sister's new husband. The reason for abandonment was after a lengthy time (years actually) of trying to find the fathers, they were nowhere to be found and it was suspected they went back to Spain and the Dominican Republic.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Abandonment is leaving the child at a bus stop with no supervision. The child is not abandoned. The child is with the mother.

Of course, the OP can file a petition with the Court - I don't know how the Division of Child Health would enter into this - and see how it plays out.

As always with these threads - I don't understand the purpose of opening up this whole situation when the father has no contact anyway and could very well respond and be awarded, minimally, visitation and why the mother isn't pursuing the father tooth and nail for the child support to which the child is entitled.

Don't need/want the money? Put it in the bank for the child's college education.

But back to the question - use the "search" feature above, next to the AMHD and search "child abandonment."

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I agree with JudyKayTee's definition of abandonment. Here is this problem when answering the questions put forth in this thread. Terminology!!

Abandonment is just that.. leaving the child without means. This is clearly not the case here the child is with the mother. There can be no charges of abandonment ( which is a criminal offense in most states )

What states are going with is desertion. That's the term by which states see it when someone refuses to support a child or spouse and its grounds for divorce in many states also.

Right now the father has no rights if he has never been taken to court to be declared the " legal " father and he isn't on the birth certificate either so again no rights. There is nothing to take away until it is given to him.

Let's have a look at some codes and statutes:
Arkansas
Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights § 9-27-341
The parent has abandoned the child.
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The parent has willfully failed to provide significant material support in accordance with the parent's means.
The parent has failed to maintain meaningful contact with the child.

California
Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 361; 361.5; 366.26
The parent has abandoned the child.
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The parent has failed to visit or contact the child for 6 months

Delaware
Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights Tit. 13, § 1103
The parent has abandoned the child.
... ;
The parent has failed to support the child when financially able to do so.
• The parent has failed to maintain regular visitation, contact, or communication with the child.

I can give you examples about each state...

It is clear that in all states/ except two or three/ terms "abandonment" and "neglect"/failure to provide support and to maintain regular visitation/ ARE DIFFERENT TERMS.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

Right now the father has no rights if he has never been taken to court to be declared the " legal " father and he isnt on the birth certificate either so again no rights. There is nothing to take away until it is given to him.

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This is both right and wrong.

Biological fathers DO have parental rights. They just generally need to go to court to prove that they want to EXERCISE those rights.

In an adoption situation, unless the father cannot be found in a timely manner, he ALSO must sign over his parental rights. Why would he have to do that, if he doesn't HAVE them?

Again, I think the confusion is that he has parental rights, but may need to take the mother to court to be able to exercise those rights.

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Originally Posted by Synnen

This is both right and wrong.

Biological fathers DO have parental rights. They just generally need to go to court to prove that they want to EXERCISE those rights.

In an adoption situation, unless the father cannot be found in a timely manner, he ALSO must sign over his parental rights. Why would he have to do that, if he doesn't HAVE them?

Again, I think the confusion is that he has parental rights, but may need to take the mother to court to be able to exercise those rights.

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Your correct in the " basic " sense of rights to a parent. But as far as the law goes he doesn't have rights till he is declared to have them ( yes he would have to fight for those rights to be granted ) and in the case of adoption he would first have to be proven the legal father in order to turn those rights over. Otherwise at this time as far as the law goes its father " unknown ".

Having gone through an adoption from the biological parent side---we were told that he HAD to give up his rights.

Listing a father as "unknown" on the birth certificate wasn't going to fly, because that's how lawsuits about whether an adoption is legal because the father wasn't contacted start.

So I'll reiterate: He may not have custody or visitation, and he may or may not be paying child support, but there's no way in hell that the mother can place the child for adoption without his consent.