Washington Child Custody Legal Questions

If your husband wants to adopt the child, he needs to file a petition for a second parent adoption. As part of that, there will be either a voluntary termination or a termination hearing to terminate the father's rights (along with his duty of support). I suggest you find a lawyer. In the adoption process, you will have to have a home study so the court has a basis to grant the adoption.... Read More

If you are not married to each other and you don't agree to put him on the birth certificate ( he has to sign to affidavit of paternity and you have to agree to it) you are free to do whatever you want until he files to make himself the legal father. If he is on the birth certificate but does not file, you can still move. You can also move before the baby is born since the child is not at issue until he/she is born. Once he or you file a parentage action or a petition to establish a parenting plan, you must give notice if you move outside of the current school district.... Read More

A parent cannot just terminate his parental rights. If he doesn't want to see the child, there is little the court can do to force him to do so. However, his duty to support the child remains. Only courts can terminate rights. This would happen only in a dependency proceeding or an adoption.... Read More

It's unlikely a court would give you custody of your sister given your age. If the aunt is abusive to her, she or you can call CPS. Your sister can also contact them and ask for a foster care placement. I doubt however, that that would be much better. She should talk to her school counselor about the harassment at school and talk to her pediatrician about getting counseling.... Read More

"Full custody" is a term often used by parents, but not by lawyers or the Courts.  I understand you to be asking whether the circumstances you describe would be enough for a Court to rule, if you decided to separate or divorce, that your husband's time with your child would be restricted or eliminated completely.  Your husband's lack of quick response to the child's needs is certainly relevant information, but a little sketchy.  What is the frequency with which this has happened?  Dpoes you husband respond to the child's needs after five minutes?  Do you?  Does the child's medical caregiver think this is negligent behavior?  Is the child healthy, despite this behavior? Due to the child's age, it's more likely than not that the Court will give you substantially more time with the child--not because you are a woman/mother, but because yo uprovide more care for the child and it is probably more bonded to you than to it's father.  The Court may also order parenting classes for your husband as a precondition to spending time with the child.  merrisnaugle,com          ... Read More

If no court has ever issued an order with regard to the child, you are free to move. Is this father even on the birth certificate? Does he pay child support via a court order? If the answer to both is no, then he is not a legal father and you are free to do what you want. His input on your fiancee is irrelevant ( unless of course he has a serious criminal record, in which case he can go to court to say you are endangering the child).... Read More

If there is no court case involving paternity, parenting time or child support pending in an Oregon court when the birth date is coming up, you can go wherever you want to have your baby. However, it would be a very good idea to have the father of the child present when the baby is born so he gets his name on the birth certificate. That make it a LOT easier to establish his duty to pay child support while the child is growing up (like 18 to 20 years under Oregon law). Once the child is born, you would need to file a petition in the state where you reside to determine custody, parenting time and child support and then have him served with the summons and petition in that action. While a court can award the parties joint custody in Oregon if the parties agree to that, under Oregon law it is a very bad idea. The reason is that if the court enters a judgment for sole custody to you with parenting time for Dad on a regular schedule and an award of child support to you, the only way he can ever get that modified is if he can show that there has been a material change in circumstances since the original judgment was entered. On the other hand, if you get a judgment for joint custody based on your agreement for that arrangement, either party can move to nullify the original agreement and go for sole custody. The only basis for such a motion is that we do not agree to joint custody any more. On another point, before you move to Washington, talk to a lawyer in that state. It would appear that you could go to Washington to have your baby without actually moving there if Oregon law is more favorable to your position.... Read More

The "father" can go to court and ask the court to order a DNA test. I assume he is not on the birth certificate. If he is, he can go to court to ask for a parenting plan without the DNA test. If you want to minimize the chances of his being in your child's life you will have no contact with him, do not give him your address or phone number, don't let him know if you move and will never use any public benefits (welfare, medicaid etc) all of which trigger the State to seek child support to repay the tax payer for your use of the benefit. If he is already in the child's life because you're allowing him to see the child, then go to court and do what is right - establish child support and a parenting plan.... Read More

When your husband files a petition for adoption, the bio father can either voluntarily sign a relinquishment or your husband and you (you would be the co-petitioner) can ask the court to terminate his rights. It is a typical part of adoptions. If the court does not terminate and he doesn't relinquish, then the adoption can't take place.... Read More

Did a court ever put a custody order, guardianship or anything else into place. If so, you would have to go back to court and ask the court to allow visitation. This is quite separate from child support. If you want to see him, you have to go to court. If your aunt has guardianship (or third party custody) without an order allowing you to see him, she has no reason to let you see him. You have to get an order from the appropriate court.... Read More

First, the question is whether or not he is the legal father (married to the mother and a parenting plan in place. If not married to the mother, is there a parenting plan in place, which makes him the legal father with rights to see the child). If neither of these is the case, he has not established himself as the legal father and has no rights until he does so. If he wasn't the legal father at the time the mother left, she had every right to leave. Nontheless, he can still establish himself as the father, but needs to do so asap. He should get a lawyer since it sounds like he can't do this himself. Maybe his family can help pay for one. It is unlikely the court will require the child to return, since he's waited so long and may not have had rights at the time the mother left. However, he can certainly get rights to see the child, even if he or the child have to travel.... Read More

The first question is whether you have established your legal paternity. Unless you have done so, you are not a legal father and have no right to the child. If you are on the birth certificate, that is evidence but does not yet make you the legal father. You can go to the court in your state to get ab emergency order to protect the child. However, any action to establish a residential schedule for the child must be in the child's home state where the mother lives. Get a lawyer. This is a difficult process across two states and unlikely to be done properly by a lay person. And no, you can't just keep the child without a court order.... Read More

It all depends on the results of the toxicology screen run on the baby and on you. It also depends on whether or not there have been violations during the period during which the court has supervised this case. If there are no other issues and you have been clean the whole time since the older children were taken, you will probably be able to keep the baby, but you will be closely monitored. Any improper act will be enough to remove this child. Good luck. Get help to address not only the drug issue but the psychological issues that underlie it.... Read More

There is no advantage to adopting your brother, given his age. If your father is the custodial parent, all he has to do is give you a power of attorney to allow you to make all decisions a parent would normally make for a child. That would allow you to care for him and at the same time not destroy the parent child relationship between this mostly grownchild and his father. Since the boy will be living with you, you can take him as a dependent on your taxes and for health insurance purposes.... Read More