This will be long so you know the details... 3 years ago my step-sons mother signed over her parental rights to the father (my husband) because she could not care for her son anymore due to her getting DUI's and doing pills. It was listed though on the court papers that she could have him every weekend... I know that sounds stupid on our part but it was the only way to get her to sign the papers w/out having to spend even more thousands of dollars to go to court... so she signed them. For the first month of course she did not get him every weekend like she was supposed to because she always had an excuse why she couldn't get him. So eventually she started getting him and it only lasted a couple of weekends. Then the day after her b-day we got him back and the guy who's house she was staying at had contacted my husband asking him if he had talked to her and he said no, so that's when we knew she wasn't going to have a stable place to stay and she contacted my husband the next weekend and she was told that she wasn't going to get him because she didn't have a job to pay for his food and she didn't have anywhere to stay. So after that we didn't hear anything from her for months. We then find out she tried to commit suicide and was placed in a mental home and was released a month later and moved to a diff state. On top of that she had missed a court date and had a warrant out for her arrest and then also had gotten another DUI in the state she ended up moving to. She has tried contacting my husband but my husband ignores her and now its been 2 years since she seen her son. She has taken other trips to other states for vacation but has never attempted to come back here to even see her son. She will contact my husband about every 4-5 months but that's it she won't try any other means to see her son but a text message. How can my husband file for child abandonment w/out really having to go to court? Also keep in mind when she text's my husband she NEVER asks if she can see her son she only asks how is he doing.

Also, she is now threatening our family in e-mails sent on Facebook.

First, if you had browsed around a bit before posting, you might have found this:
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/family...st-364259.html

And you might have asked your question differently since abandonment doesn't apply.

I doubt if the mother actually signed her rights away. If she did she would not have gotten visitation. What probably happened is she gave up primary physical custody, but not parental rights.

So what you have to explain is what your husband (and you, even though you have no legal standing) really want. Do you want her rights totally terminated? Do you just want to prevent her from visiting? Do you want to adopt your step son? We need to know what you ultimately want so we can properly advise you.

Excuse me I read it wrong she signed over her "domicile" rights. They do have joint custody with my husband now being the domicile parent as of 3 years ago. And we want her rights totally terminated and then myself adopt him.

What threats is she making? Has your husband asked the courts for child support?

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Originally Posted by stephaniesteph1

Excuse me I read it wrong she signed over her "domicile" rights. They do have joint custody with my husband now being the domicile parent as of 3 years ago. And we want her rights totally terminated and then myself adopt him.

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If you read the sticky I linked to, you would see you have it reversed. What you want is to adopt the child. That is your goal. As part of the adoption her rights will be terminated if the court agree to the adoption.

If what you say is true about her mental health history, her lack of being in the child's life and her threats, I would say you have a good chance of getting the adoption through even if she doesn't agree. But you would stand almost no chance of getting her rights terminated WITHOUT the adoption.

So what you do now is you shop around for a Family Law attorney to prepare the paperwork. The attorney will prepare the petition for court and work on getting her rights terminated. The attorney will advise you of what you need to do to get the court to agree to the adoption.

Well I went and read the link you sent and I actually found this about the legal definition for abandonment... The Legal Definition of Abandonment

By Jennifer Wolf
See More About:

* abandonment
* legal help
* glossary

Definition:

Abandonment refers a parent's choice to willfully withhold physical, emotional, and financial support from a minor child. In other words, abandonment is when a non-custodial parent fails to fulfill his or her parental responsibilities and chooses not to have contact with his or her child.

Abandonment can result in the loss of one's parental rights. However, a parent cannot simply choose or elect on his or her own to forfeit those rights. In fact, even in cases of abandonment, most states will not legally terminate a parent's unless there is another parent-figure, such as a step-parent, who is waiting to formally adopt the child.

Legally, in most states, a parent is said to have "abandoned" a child after a two-year period of withholding his or her contact and financial support.

So it seems to me it is considered abandonment. And everything I said about her mental health history, her lack of being in the child's life and her threats are all true, were not going to go in front a judge and make stuff up, we have all the proof. And for the other viewer... the threat might not seem high to anyone reading but she e-mailed my sis-n-law on FB yesterday and asked her for a pic of her son and my sis-n-law did not reply because she does not want to get in the middle of this. So then today she e-mails my sis-n-law 3 more times with various things like how she's been clean for 30 days now and she's getting back on track to get her son back and in another e-mail she tells her that if she keeps ignoring her it will be bad for her and her entire family. So me and my husband take that as a threat.

The laws vary by location. I don't remember reading where you are located.

I just learned today that in my state, Tennessee, if a parental figure does not send child support or participate in visitation, it can be considered abandonment after only 4 months!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stephaniesteph1

Abandonment can result in the loss of one's parental rights. However, a parent cannot simply choose or elect on his or her own to forfeit those rights. In fact, even in cases of abandonment, most states will not legally terminate a parent's unless there is another parent-figure, such as a step-parent, who is waiting to formally adopt the child.

So it seems to me it is considered abandonment.

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I'm sorry, but you are reading but not comprehending. I never said this wasn't abandonment. But your question was about can he "file for abandonment". And the answer to that is no. Abandonment may be used as means towards a different end, but it is not the end in itself. That's why I said your goal is the adoption. Re read the piece I quoted from the definition you found. It agrees with me that courts will not grant a TPR just on abandonment alone.

Also that definition is generic. Laws and courts vary by location. So I stand by my advice. Get an attorney and file for adoption.

One last point, yes the e-mail sounded like a threat, but it is too vague and generalized for a court to take seriously. Your attorney will tell you whether its worth using as part of your case or not.

Bottom line here is that it is highly unlikely you will get a court to issue a TPR based on what you have told us. The only way that will happen is as part of a petition for adoption. So that is what you file for.