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halleykat · Oct 12, 2008, 05:09 PM

Hey all,

I have an ex who is the father of my daughter who is now 4 years old. He has not paid child support, or sent anything to her in alomost 2 years. And we broke up 2 years ago. In any event I am begging him to sign over his rights to her and he finally agreed. He knows it's best cause he can't offer her what a father should. My current fiancé and I will be the sole supporters of her. The main reason why I want to have him give up his rights are because of how he has lived his life. He is now in rehas and supposedly doing better, but I can't trust him with her. I want so bad to bring my daughter to see him and his parents, but he has threatened that he will take her. I have filed for a custody case, but he never signed the paperwork so nothing has ever happened, and I am deathly afraid that he will get her somehow. I have been told that if his rights are gone then I no longer get child support, but that he no longer "owns" her quote un quote. I basically don't care about the money and just want the peace of mind to know that if I take her to see him then legally he can't take her from me.

Can someone please tell me if this is the case. Is this what signing over rights means? I can't afford a lawyer, so how can I do this low cost or free of charge when he is voluntarily signing over his rights? Will he still be responsible for child support? What about taxes? Can I change her last name? Will I be able to have my giance adopt her? Please someone help me with these questions. Thanks for your time either way.

Jenni

Fr_Chuck · Oct 12, 2008, 05:28 PM

First no unless you have a new husband he can not just "sign over his rights" few judges in the US would allow this.

After you are married and ifyour new husband adopts, then child support will stop.

You need to get a court custody order in place, and you need to get a child support order in place. He will get visits if he wants them.

stinawords · Oct 12, 2008, 07:54 PM

Really the only thing you can do is go to court for child support. In most states you have to be married for at least one year before a judge will even consider an adoption also a lawyer is required for all adoptions so there really isn't a "low cost" way other than to shop around your local adoption attorneys to find the easiest one to work with.