I have a 3 yrd old son and for the beginning of his life his father was around. Now for the past yr he wants nothing to do with him. I've given him every opportunity to spend time with him and to see him but he has not taken them. I am not even getting child support from him. I asked him to sign over his rights to our son and he agreed. What would be my next step? Will I need a lawyer? Will it be expensive?

You probably want a lawyer because you want to make sure there are no loopholes in the arrangement that the father can argue later. That being said, I do not believe it would be very expensive so long as the father does not contest the action.

I believe the lawyer will have to draft the papers, present them to a judge and the judge would grant the request.

But, why bother? If he isn't around and is making no claim, why would you need to legally need to get him out of your 3 year old's life?

Make sure the father understands that signing over his rights does not stop his obligation to pay child support. Also ifyou have not been getting child support, why, have you turned him over to your state child support enforcement, have you taken him back to court to have the judge enforce the order.