I have a 3 year old son, his father and I were never married and he has been absent for 9 months if not longer and he only occasionally pays child support. I know that some states have laws that after a period if the parent has not been around the child they no longer have rights to that child, I was wondering if Nebraska has such laws?

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Originally Posted by braybray08

I know that some states have laws that after a period of time if the parent has not been around the child they no longer have rights to that child

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Actually that's not true. No US state has such a law. What the laws do say is that if a parent has no contact at all for a period, it MAY be grounds for the custodial parent to request a court to terminate their rights. You might want to check this sticky from the top of this forum. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/family...st-364259.html

From a practical standpoint even that won't happen. A court is just as likely to say that since he isn't exercising his rights there is no reason to terminate them.

Why do you want to terminate his rights?

As for child support, did you go to court to request support? Is there a court order for support?

I will agree, first there states where after a period of no contact, you can use that as a reason to modify the child visit agreement. SO>>>
What type of child visit agreement does he have now, what are his days and times in general?

Is the child support order though the courts, if it is not he legally does not even owe you support at this time.

If you have a new partner to adopt, these will be looked at as possible reasons along with other factors.

The only thing that is court ordered is the child support. We never went to court about visitation because when we sat down and talked when he started to be a part of my son's life we decided when didn't want to deal with courts or the money it cost and agreed to settle things between us and now he just doesn't make any effort to be around, in fact makes a great effort to not be around. I don't want to terminate his rights, just was wondering if there is ever a point in time that he would no longer have rights because of his lack of being involved.

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Originally Posted by braybray08

just was wondering if there is ever a point in time that he would no longer have rights because of his lack of being involved.

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And the answer to that is no. Until and unless a court issues a TPR, he will continue to be the father and continue to have his parental rights. Without a court order specifying visitation, you remain in control. If you withhold visitation you will force him to go to court to get it.