Signing over my rights
- Thread Starter Amanda220
- Start date
army judge
Super Moderator
It is rare when the state will allow a parent to sign away (relinquish) his or her rights.
Even when you are allowed to relinquish your parental rights, you don't extinguish your parental obligations.
You are still required to pay child support, especially child support that is in arrears.
If you and the mother were NEVER married, you never went to court to establish your paternal rights, you have NOTHING to relinquish.
You would have NO parental rights.
Yes, that would be true if someone placed your name on the child's birth certificate.
However, no court is going to be swayed by some dumb guy on the internet and his dumb opinion. YEAH, that is me, buddy, the dumb, unknown guy on the 'net.
I suggest you consult with a lawyer, because you'll need one if you wish to pursue relinquishing your parental rights, assuming you have any.
Judges usually don't allow that unless there is a stepparent willing to adopt. They see a lot of NCP who want to get out of child support. I think most states don't even allow voluntarily relinquishing parental rights unless there's a stepparent to adopt.
I would go talk to a lawyer and see what your options might be. Many do free consultations.
zddoodah
Well-Known Member
Not legally (with one exception discussed below).
When folks ask about "signing over" their parental rights, they are usually asking under the belief that doing so will relieve him (usually it's a him) of the obligation to pay child support. Stated differently, the typical person who asks about this is a guy who knocked up a woman and, despite having engaged in indiscriminate, unprotected sex, doesn't want to be bothered with the responsibilities of fatherhood. In any event, legally, the concept of "signing over" one's parental rights does not exist, except in the context of someone else adopting the child. In other words, if the mother has married someone else who wants to adopt the child, then you can "sign over" your rights to allow that to happen (and doing so will relieve you of any future obligation to support the child). Otherwise, no.
I sincerely hope the answer to your question is absolutely not under any circumstances, because you aren't really asking if you can sign over your rights. You are asking if you can be relieved of your responsibilities. Well guess what, the mother of your child shouldn't be left to bear all of the responsibility on her own.
