QUESTION
Will state courts allow my ex to sign away his legal rights to my son?
Asked on Mar 14th, 2015 on Child Custody - Washington
More details to this question:
My ex has been out of the picture since before my son was born (I have legal documentation of physical abuse to me, not my son). I recently lost my sister unexpectedly and would like to be prepared in the event of anything unexpectedly happening to me. I worry that my ex would try to come back into the picture if I was not involved. There is a child support order in place and he has been garnished but it is rare that I receive a payment. My son is 3 and he owes over 7k in back support and has only seen him once when he was 2 months old. Will the courts allow my ex to forfeit his parental rights? I have been married years year and my son knows my husband as dad, however although my husband is willing to adopt we do not currently have the funds available to go forward with that process. Thank you for your assistance.
1 ANSWER
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Your husband can not relinquish unless someone else adopts. If your husband wants to adopt, given the history of so little contact, a court could easily terminate the father's rights even if he doesn't do so voluntarily. You can name your current husband as the child's proposed guardian in a will. If your husband then disputes it, although the father would have legal rights over your husband, the child's best interest at that point would have to be the deciding factor. Maybe you and your husband could get an additional job for a while to pay for an adoption as that is the only safe way to guarantee that the child would go with him and not the biological father.
Answered on Mar 16th, 2015 at 12:14 PM