What are my rights in a child custody case?

You can't sign your rights over to a child. If your child's father has someone else who will adopt in your place (a new spouse, for example) then your parental rights can be terminated, but you can't simply waive your obligation to your child.

Divorce laws are highly state specific. What goes in one state may not be acceptable in another. You may have a good case to recover the child. And if you "(S)ign away rights..." you may be obligated to pay child support. Please consult an attorney in your state as soon as possible.

You don't get out of your responsibilities to your child unless someone adopts the child. Good luck.

If he lives in IL he can simply file for custody of the child. Have him call the office and we will guide him through the process.

The father does not have to "agree" for you to "sign over your rights", but technically you cannot sign over your parental rights to anyone. You don't say why you wish to relinquish your rights and apparently you have left the child in his care or the care of someone else; so, unless you are hoping to avoid a financial obligation to pay child support, it doesn't appear necessary for you to do anything. Once somebody comes after you for child support, you can expect to be required to pay and that is the reason you are not allowed to voluntarily give your rights (and obligations) except where someone else wants to adopt the child and assume the financial duty of support. If you were never married to the father and there has never been a judicial determination of paternity, he technically has no specific rights either. If he is the one with actual care & physical custody now, sooner or later he is going to have difficulty that can be avoided.

Under Washington law (I'm assuming the father and child live in Washington), the court would have to determine what your rights are, such as by entering a parenting plan. If you don't want any rights, then the best thing is just to not have the court establish any. On the other hand, you may have responsibilities (such as support). To have the responsibilities terminated, someone else would probably have to adopt the child.

He has to agree. Most judges won't allow it unless there is someone to adopt and pick up your responsibility so not just another drain on state.