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mrolemiss · Oct 29, 2007, 10:21 PM

My sister got pregnant and was pressured numerous times to have an abortion by the guy who got her pregnant. She still talks to the guy but he wants nothing to do with the child. He said he will sign whatever papers needed to terminate his rights. Father is not on the birth certificate. Both parties live in Indiana. What needs to be done for him to terminate all rights to the child?

macksmom · Oct 30, 2007, 05:05 AM

Does she want him to terminate his rights? If so, why?

shygrneyzs · Oct 30, 2007, 05:12 AM

Just and FYI - even if he terminates his rights, he is still going to have to pay child support.
Read through the following on terminating parental rights in Indiana:
http://www.ssw.umich.edu/icwtp/legal.../d-grounds.pdf
Indiana - Grounds For Termination of Parental Rights

macksmom · Oct 30, 2007, 05:30 AM

Well I asked my question, because bottomline... if the mother does not want to agree to the father terminating his rights it won't be done.

To answer both ways... he can't just petition to terminate his rights, it doesn't work that way.
If you are in agreement though, still it usually will not be done unless the mother has someone willing to adopt the child.

If he isn't exercising his rights now, what's the difference?

ScottGem · Oct 30, 2007, 06:16 AM

There are loads of questions about this same subject here. Have you taken the time to read some of them? You could have gotten an answer to your question without posting.

But the real question here is what does your sister expect to get from a termination? Why isn't she going after the father for child support?

mrolemiss · Oct 30, 2007, 08:06 PM

Yes, he doesn't want to see the child and wants absolutely nothing to do with him. She does not want child support, she only wants to prevent him from changing his mind 5 years form now and taking her child from her after totally abandoning him.

Originally Posted by macksmom

Does she want him to terminate his rights? If so, why?

ScottGem · Oct 31, 2007, 05:54 AM

And why does she think that's going to happen? If a father ignores their child for 5 years, then all of a sudden says I want to be the child's parent, no court is going to take the kid from the mother, unless she is clearly unfit.

And no court is likely to grant termination of rights unless there is someone waiting to adopt. So tell sis to stop worrying and leave things as they are.

mrolemiss · Oct 31, 2007, 06:06 AM

I had a friend that it happened to. He decided that he wanted to get revenge against his ex-gf, so he took her to court and got visitation. He told her verbally that he was only doing it to spite her, but she still has to take her daughter to see him.

ScottGem · Oct 31, 2007, 06:08 AM

Visitation is one thing. Taking the child away is another. Also you don't say what the timing was with this friend. I also suspect this friend didn't have an attorney to protect her rights.

mrolemiss · Oct 31, 2007, 06:20 AM

Her attorney sought to have all rights terminated due to abandonment, but his family was very influential, so the judge ruled for the father. He was first awarded joint custody even though she had lived out of state for 2 years before he sought custody. She had to drive her daughter 400 miles every other week to see him for almost a year until the state supreme ct. reversed the decision. In a new trial, he was granted visitation, but only on holidays and during the summer. He has a construction business that makes no money (according to his books), so he has yet to pay any money in child support.

If she would have had his rights terminated early on, this would not have happened.

ScottGem · Oct 31, 2007, 06:27 AM

You are missing the point. No court would have granted a termination. It is very hard to get a termination. Generally it will not be granted unless there is a stepparent waiting to adopt or the terminated parent is proven to be a danger to the child.

So, in your friend's case, even if she had tried for a TPR, she wouldn't have gotten it. And, yes judges can be influenced, but it appears that the appeal process worked at least to some extent.

Getting back to your sister's case, again I don't see a TPR being granted.