My boyfriend's parental rights were terminated about 4 years ago. The mother of his child was going into the national guard and he wanted to custody while she was away. He missed the court date. He didn't receive the paper in the mail until 22 weeks later. He then found out his rights were terminated. When the mother came back she let him have the child regularly so they never went back to court. She moved 44 hours away a year ago and now we hardly see the child. My boyfriend is paying support as well. How can he get his rights back and get regular visitation? Please help. Thank you.

I meant 2 weeks later not 22

My boyfriend's parental rights were terminated about 4 years ago. The mother of his child was going into the national guard and he wanted to custody while she was away. He missed the court date. He didn't receive the paper in the mail until 2 weeks later. He then found out his rights were terminated for not showing up to court. When the mother came back she let him have the child regularly so they never went back to court. She moved 4 hours away a year ago and now we hardly see the child. My boyfriend is paying support as well. How can he get his rights back and get regular visitation? Please help. Thank you.

His Parental rights were never terminated or he would not still be obligated to pay support.

What might have changed was he lost joint custody... which is a far, far different thing.

He has to go back to court and petition to get them back.

They had never went to court for custody in the first place. It wasn't until she was leaving that he asked for custody. All she did when they broke up was file for support and a paternity test eas done (which proved he was the father). Does that make a difference if custody was never established? I'm just so clueless about these things and want to help my boyfriend.

The story makes no sense so what needs to happen is the papers need to be understood that were filed with the courts. It doesn't sound like his rights were terminated at this point and so far you have given no reason for it. We need to know what is actually (not guessing) happening in this situation so we can help you.