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concerned_party · Jan 20, 2011, 06:22 AM

A man with no intention of fathering a child was advised girl was using birth control. Obviously not. Can he terminate his rights voluntarily in fla and if so, how. He has met the child & resided in the paternal grandparents' home with said child for one month (child was 6 months of age) when the mother moved to another state with the child, who is now 4 1/2 yoa. He feels he does not "know" the child & feels no connection to her, nor to the mother. What are HIS rights, if any?

J_9 · Jan 20, 2011, 06:31 AM

Do you realize that birth control fails? It is possible that she was taking birth control as she stated.

Now, giving up rights is not as easy as it seems, otherwise every courthouse in the country would have a line a mile long with people trying to give up their rights.

Typically, in most states, rights are only terminated in order for an adoption to take place.

Whether he "knows" the child or not, it is still his financial responsibility.

concerned_party · Jan 20, 2011, 07:23 AM

Thanks for the input. The "man" in question has the emotional & mental capacity of a 12 year old... literally. Again, thank you. But this is way more than a moral issue. We realize his financial obligations... that is the tip of the proverbial iceberg in this situation.

J_9 · Jan 20, 2011, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by concerned_party

Thanks for the input. The "man" in question has the emotional & mental capacity of a 12 year old...literally. .

If that's the case, you will have to supply us with the entire scenario for us to help you. Please don't expect us to know the situation and speculate.

It seems more info is necessary.

kcomissiong · Jan 21, 2011, 12:33 PM

Please ready the family law sticky on termination of parental rights. Courts will VERY VERY rarely terminate parental rights other than to facilitate an adoption. If it were that easy to "unbecome" a parent, a lot of people would do it.

cdad · Jan 21, 2011, 03:25 PM

We really need to know what's been going on. The reason is if its true that he has reduced mental capacity and that has been proven by a professional. There may be other things that will go on.

Also is the person in question working and self reliant or are they on ssd/ssi ?

ScottGem · Jan 21, 2011, 05:01 PM

You start saying; "A man with no intention of fathering a child... (My bolding)". When told that a TPR is unlikely you then claim; "The "man" in question has the emotional & mental capacity of a 12 year old... " You didn't think that was key information?

Now we have another issue if this is true. A person with the emotional and mental capacity of a 12 yr old shouldn't be engaging in sex. And the fact that he was allowed to be unsupervised to the point where he was able to have sex raises a whole lot of other points.

So either he is ruled incompetent, or he will be held responsible for the support of the child. There is no way he will be allowed to relinquish his rights unless someone wants to adopt the child.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 21, 2011, 06:28 PM

Yes, is his mental status, just a hateful remark because of him not wanting to be acting as a father.

But no he father can not merely sign over his rights,