My question is: my husband pays child support for his son 14 and he now want to live with us. The child support order was done in Mass. And she lives in Arizona and we live in Nevada. She has made no attempet to stop the child support order nor do I think she will. But now she is relinquishing her parental rights to another child she has( not my husbands son) to the state. Does theat mean that her rights to my step-son will be taken too and can we then take that document and have child support terminated with that. He is not on the birth cirtificate but we do have a DNA test that proves he is his father. We cannot afford to retain a lawyer... please help

No, it does not mean anything about you're his child.

You can take that info and try and get custody of the 14 year old child, since if she loses her rights, your husband gets the child.

But he will pay support till he goes to court and gets that support order stopped.\

So if she is losing her children to the state, it sounds like you will have a new member of your home shortly if he is taken out of the home

I agree with Fr. Chuck that the state's decision to take custody of one of her children does not impact her custodial rights to the other child. If your husband is taking custody of the child, whether the parental rights of the mother are being terminated, he should find a way to get representation to change the support order to reflect the new circumstances. It makes no sense for him to send money to the child's mother for child support if he is supporting the child in his own home.

Given that your husband is under a child support order for the child, it sounds like his paternity is already established by the court that issued that order so the birth certificate is a non-issue.

It's possible that the reasons she lost custody of one child may be considered adequate cause for your husband to request that her rights be terminated for his child as well but it's hard to know without the details.

There's nothing your husband can do effectively without a lawyer really, but there are organizations that provide free legal services or charge on a sliding scale, and many attorneys will work out payment arrangements or take credit cards. Most will meet with him for a free initial consultation and give him an idea of what the costs are likely to be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fustratedinvegas

my question is: my husband pays child support for his son 14 and he now want to live with us. the child support order was done in Mass. and she lives in arizona and we live in nevada. she has made no attempet to stop the child support order nor do i think she will. but now she is relinquishing her parental rights to another child she has( not my husbands son) to the state. does theat mean that her rights to my step-son will be taken too and can we then take that document and have child support terminated with that. he is not on the birth cirtificate but we do have a DNA test that proves he is his father. we cannot afford to retain a lawyer...please help

---

As has already been stated, one child has nothing to do with the other. What is the mother's reason for relinquishing her rights to the state?

My greatest concern with this is that instead of being concerned and looking for ways to obtain custody of his child, your husband is looking to stop paying support. Even if the mother relinquished her rights, your husband would still have rights to his son - why would he not want to exercise them?

File a motion yourself. A lot of courts will alow you to present certain issues like this yourself. Go to your county clerk and ask what you should do.

First, I moved this from the Children forum. There is a Read first sticky at the top of that forum that directs questions of a legal nature here.

Second there is a lot of issues here.

1) The reason she is relinquishing her rights to the other child. That's an important factor.
2) Her relationship with your step son is not affected by what happens with the other child, depending on the reason for what's happening.
3) Your step son can't choose, only a court can change custody. How much his preference will be given depends on a number of factors.
4) Since you both have moved from MA, jurisdiction should be changed to where the child lives.
5) Support will only be terminated if, a) your husband gets primary physical custody or b) someone else adopts the child.

Your husband can try filing the motions on his own (you have no legal standing in the case).
2) The child cannot choose who he wishes to live with